


Return

by Sarosia



Series: Pretty Boy [3]
Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: Exhibitionism, M/M, Nanites, Slash, mentions from Alternate, s2 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-09-29 20:26:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 24,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10143317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarosia/pseuds/Sarosia
Summary: The Raza receives a distress call from a ship that drops out of FTL near them.Third and final(probably) part of my Pretty Boy series.





	1. You're an asshole.

**Author's Note:**

> Tiny little Easter egg here from another Sci-Fi franchise. Just for funsies. :)

 

Three's Comm made a noise on the counter. He didn't look up and there was no way he was going to stop what he was doing to get up and get it. There was a gun in his lap and the rest were spread around him on the floor. Three had planned all this out. They had nothing else going on. Dealer's choice of pastimes and this was what he was going to do.

 

“ _I need everyone on the Bridge, now.”_ Two's voice came from somewhere in his room, much louder than the Comm.

 

Three jumped, looking around. It had sounded like she was right there. “Two?”

 

“ _Everyone means you, Three.”_

 

“Five's behind this, isn't she? What, did she sneak in my room and rig this up?” Three went back to the gun.

 

“ _The_ Raza _already had the capability, so it just took finding and unlocking it. You're welcome.”_ Five said.

 

“All right, then. That's just great. Now you can tell me what's going on while I stay right here.”

 

“ _I need you up here.”_ Two said.

 

“I'll be up in a minute.” Three gently set the gun in his lap with the others. Softer, he said, “I promise I'll be back soon.”

 

On his way out, Three gave a lingering look to Moss where he lay in what had been One's favorite place to sleep. When he actually slept in here. He'd preferred his own bed.

 

Three was the last one to the Bridge. Two nodded to him, but everyone else was too busy staring at a strange ship sitting outside the _Raza_. Three gave it a half-nod. “The hell is that?”

 

“That is the _Nostromo._ ” The Android said. “It dropped out of FTL a few minutes ago. It is broadcasting a distress signal that contains a recorded message.”

 

A woman's face filled the main screen for a moment before she backed off. There was a large tattoo curving around her left eye and her hair was buzzed close to her head. Her eyes were wide, panicked even though she didn't look like a person that was easily shaken. _“...romo...requesting assistance from any nearby ships. Something is loose on our ship. Most of the crew is...dead. Ple–”_

 

A pale arm streaked with blood wrapped around her neck. The attacker's other hand came up with a scalpel. The woman thrashed her body against him, trying to break free. She hit something and the screen went black.

 

Two turned to them. “We can't get any other response from the ship. It's possible everyone except the murderer is dead.”

 

“And we're going over there, aren't we?” Three asked.

 

“We help whoever might be left and split the cargo. Everyone wins.”

 

“Great. Sounds like a fun little field trip.” Three said.

 

#

 

Three didn't find it that hard to believe that he'd gotten so used to flying this little ship in such a short time. He was exactly that awesome. Also, there was a good chance that he was never letting Six anywhere near the controls again. Three docked the _Marauder_ to the _Nostromo_ and there was a part of him that did want to find the murderer and dispense a little deep space justice. A much smaller part wanted to go back to bed.

 

The silence was what bothered him the most when they crossed into the ship. He hated when it was quiet. It almost always meant that something bad was going to happen. Give him noise. Chaos. Something concrete to shoot.

 

The first body they ran across wasn't far from the airlock. It was lying where the hall split into two, going opposite directions. Four rolled the man onto his back. They counted four stab wounds in his torso and one right in the middle of his forehead. He said, “This was a lot of hate. He's still warm, it wasn't long ago.”

 

Three brought his gun up, finger on the trigger. He started down one way while Two said, “Everyone on guard. Keep in touch.”

 

Two came up beside him and they moved as a team down the hall. There had been plenty of death on this ship. Down their hall, Three counted four more bodies before they came to the Bridge. All of them had the same wounds as the first man. Four stabs in the exact same places on their torsos and one to the head.

 

The woman who'd been on the screen lay crumbled behind the panel where she recorded the message. There was a mess where she'd fought back, but she wasn't a match for whoever had attacked the ship. Same wounds.

 

“What the hell happened here?” Two asked. She messed with the controls and brought up a layout of the ship. From what she could tell, Nyx and Four were on a path that would take them to the cargo area.

 

“No idea. Someone's definitely obsessed with this pattern.”

 

“There were nine people on the crew.” Two said, digging through information on where the ship had come from and where it was going.

 

“And who wants to bet every last one is dead?”

 

Six spoke into his ear. _“Anything?”_

 

Three ignored him, letting Two answer. He wandered around the Bridge, taking a look into space to see the _Raza_ sitting outside.

 

“There is a small transport, but it's still here. Whoever did this has to still be on the ship.” Two said.

 

She raised her hand to call Four, but he spoke first. _“We've found one person alive, but you are not going to believe this.”_

 

They shared a look and then they both heard the soft voice in the background of Four's connection. _“Four?...You got out.”_

 

Three took off the way they'd come, Two almost on his heels. She moved up next to him. “The ship that followed us home...”

 

Three nodded. “Other Derrick. Fucking alternate reality...”

 

In the farthest corner of the cargo hold, Four stood with a man leaning heavy on him. He wore white, but it was stained in stripes of red. Even with his head down, Three recognized his shape. He pushed off of Four to stand on his own when he saw them. His eyes stayed on Three.

 

Two spoke. “Four, he's probably one of the ones that followed us from the other reality.”

 

Four shook his head. “I have reason to believe it is One in spite of facts. He called me Four, not Ryo.”

 

The man kept staring at Three and he could almost believe it. Then he spoke. “You're an asshole.”

 

One pitched forward and both Four and Three grabbed him. He sagged heavy between them. They all shared wide-eyed looks and Two said, “Get him into the _Marauder_.”

 

 


	2. Why are you so fuzzy?

 

Three stayed with him on the _Marauder_ while everyone else loaded up everything that wasn't bolted to the _Nostromo_. One woke up when they put him in one of the chairs. He hadn't said anything, just sat staring up at Three. Three was trying to ignore it, but just knowing that One was watching him made his skin all itchy.

 

Three didn't know what to say. What do you say in a situation like this? One was dead. It had been all over the news. If this had been the Other Derrick, then Other Boone would be around and he wasn't. One had been the only living person on the whole ship. The murderer hadn't left and there was a good chance the guy who killed everyone was sitting right here, watching him.

 

“Why are you so fuzzy?” One asked, startling him.

 

“You probably took a hit to the head. Blurry vision is par for that course. Speaking as someone who has taken a lot of hits to the head.”

 

One reached up and raked his nails through the hair on Three's face. “No, I'm talking about the animal growing here. Did you forget how to shave yourself when you were in prison?”

 

“As a matter of fact, I thought I'd try something new since I was finally free of your nagging. I kinda like it. Makes me look more rugged.”

 

One smiled. “Yeah...you do look better without so much of your face showing. Less hard to look at.”

 

Three touched One's face. “You're not exactly smooth yourself, Pretty Boy.”

 

“I've been busy.” One's eyes shifted away from him and he just sort of zoned out.

 

“How are you not dead?” Three hadn't even meant to ask that. The words just came tumbling out.

 

One didn't look at him. “I don't know.”

 

“What happened on that ship?”

 

“I...don't know.”

 

Three wanted to touch him again, but then Two was speaking in his comms. _“Three, get the_ Marauder _ready. We're almost done here.”_

 

“Aye aye, Captain.” One raised an eyebrow at that.

 

“ _Do you think it's really him?”_

 

This time, Three gave in to the urge. He threaded his fingers in One's hair. One leaned into the touch, his eyes closing. “You heard Four. Neither Corso or Other Derrick would have known to call him that.”

 

One's eyes opened and he mouthed, “Other Derrick?”

 

Three shook his head. One grabbed him, his eyes clear. “Corso! It was him! He...he shot me.”

 

Three held his face, keeping him still. “We know. Corso isn't a problem anymore. You don't have to worry about him.”

 

“Are you sure?” One's eyes were wide, his breath coming too fast.

 

He nodded. “Two put a bullet in his head. You know she doesn't miss.”

 

One seemed to relax a little at that. Even more when Three kissed him. One touched his face, sliding his hand down to tug at the hairs on his chin. “It's itchy.”

 

“Ah, I really missed your near-constant bitching.” Three glanced at the doors. “I gotta get the _Marauder_ ready, you okay?”

 

One nodded and Three went to the front. “Wait, _you're_ the one flying the _Marauder_? Where's Six? Is he okay?”

 

“He's more fine than I would like him to be back on the _Raza_. Hey, I do a damn good job flying her.”

 

“'Her?'” The word was slurred and when Three looked, One's eyes were shut.

 

“Yeah. Figured you'd get jealous if I called the _Marauder_ a him.”

 

When One didn't answer, he knew he was out.

 

One's eyes opened and he stood. They were still the only ones in the _Marauder_. One stepped up behind him. Three was so busy messing with buttons and knobs that he didn't even notice until One wrapped an arm around his waist, pressing his body to Three's back. He squeezed him tight with the arm around him and pulled Three's gun free from his hip with the other.

 

One brought the gun around, having to twist his wrist hard to put the tip to Three's chest. “I'm not doing this. It's not me.”

 

Three nodded. “I know.”

 

Four quick shots into Three's chest and stomach. One between his eyes. This was who he had become. What this life had made him. The _Raza_ had been a bad decision from the day Boone had talked him into becoming Jace Corso. He should have just let them take him to prison. That might have turned him into a bad person, but at least the monster would be contained.

 

One took in a screaming breath, jerking in the seat. A hand landed on his shoulder and he followed the arm over to Four. From somewhere in front of them, he heard Three's voice. “What is it? What happened?”

 

“He woke up. Just get us home.” Four said.

 

The word 'home' rang through One's body. Home. The _Raza._ His home. One forced himself to relax. “I'm okay.”

 

Four thumped him on the shoulder a couple times. “It's good to see you alive.”

 

“Good to be alive.”

 

 


	3. Bang

One was on the ship approximately seven seconds before Five shot through the others. She jerked to a stop in front of him, eyes wide. In the next second, she was hugging him so hard they both stumbled back a step.

 

One couldn't help but smile. “Good to see you, too.”

 

“How?”

 

Three grabbed her by the shoulders and steered her away from One. “No questions.”

 

“Three.” One said, but that was it. Three had taken to steering Five down the familiar path to the Infirmary. He turned to Two. “I was hoping I could get cleaned up before the Android starts poking me.”

 

“She's a _robot_ , Pretty Boy, she's not going to care what you look like during the prodding. It's kinda her job.” Three called back to them.

 

One's face heated up and Two put an arm around his waist. “We just need to know that you're...you. A few tests and then you can clean up and get some rest.”

 

A few tests turned into a few more and then a full body scan. While they waited for the Android's final word, One sat up on the table. He dangled his legs off the side. Five kept alternating between chattering nonstop about things that had happened and just standing in stunned silence. Either way, One couldn't really bring himself to focus on any of it. He knew as much as they did at this point. Dead. Alive. Ship. Here.

 

“They had a body for Derrick Moss.” Four said.

 

“Look, I don't know what to tell you. I woke up. I just...I woke up.” One's voice was soft, his eyes locked on his hands in his lap. “I was alone. I didn't know where I was and for a bit...I didn't remember who I was.”

 

Three shifted closer to the table, trying to not draw anyone's attention to it. One glanced at him and then back to his lap. “I knew enough to know that I didn't belong wherever I was. So I hid out in the cargo hold of some ship.” One looked at the room. “I'm on the _Raza_.”

 

“Did you see who attacked that ship?” Two asked.

 

One looked at her and then Three. “I don't know.”

 

“We didn't find anyone else in the ship.” Four pressed.

 

“I. Don't. Know. Maybe he jumped in a pod or something. They're not on the ship, so what does it matter now?”

 

“You're covered in – ”

 

“I believe I know why you did not succumb to your wounds,” the Android said suddenly.

 

“And?” Three prompted when she remained silent.

 

“Genetically, One is still Derrick Moss. However, there are a number of nanites running through his system. More than enough to keep you from dying even with a fatal wound. Such as to the head, if that were the case.”

 

“Nanites like mine?” Two asked.

 

“Some differences, but yes. Other than that, all of the scans have come back normal. In fact, you seem healthier than at my last scan. In fact, I would hazard to say that you are the healthiest person on the _Raza_ after Two.”

 

“Hey,” Three said, “I'm pretty good.”

 

The Android looked at him. “Hm.”

 

“Something's not right with her,” Three waved his finger at the Android and then turned to One. “How do you even _get_ nanites?”

 

One shook his head, looking a little sick. “I don't know.”

 

“An initial dose would be small. Given in an injection. Once inside, the nanites would multiply to the desired levels.” The Android said.

 

One started to shake his head again and stopped. His eyes went wide and Three said, “What?”

 

“BioBe.”

 

“One more time, in normal speak.” Three said.

 

One looked at him and then to the others. “BioBe Research was just recently acquired by CoreLactic. They were trying to extend into medical...right after they put me up in the penthouse, a doctor checked me over and gave me a shot. It was supposed to be some kind of vaccine update.”

 

“Unnecessary.” The Android said. “I have kept all of you up to date on all vaccinations.”

 

“Exactly.” One covered his face with his hands. “Dammit!”

 

“We'll look into it.” Two said. She squeezed his shoulder. “You're alive. That's all that matters right now, okay?”

 

One slid off the table. “Okay. The only thing I really want right now is the hottest shower I can get.”

 

Two stared at One before nodding. “Yeah. Shower and sleep and I'll see you in the morning. We can talk more then.”

 

When Three tried to follow him, she stepped in his way. “We need to talk. And One? I need you to bunk with Three for right now. I don't want you alone.”

 

“Okay...I'll take my bed and you can get the floor.” One said with a small smile.

 

“Actually, _you_ will be bunking with _me._ ” Three said.

 

“Why? I like my bed.”

 

Nyx raised her hand. “Because I believe that's my bed now. You're right, though, it is very comfortable.”

 

One's mouth fell open. “I _died_ and you gave away my room?”

 

“You were dead.” Three shrugged. “And I'm being nice enough to let you have my bed. For one night. I think there's a cot around here I can use.”

 

“My stuff?” One asked Two.

 

Three answered. “Took what I wanted and the rest is in the vault.”

 

One shook his head. “Okay. Whatever. You know where to find me.”

 

Three watched him leave and turned to Two. “What?”

 

“I want you to keep an eye on him.” Two said.

 

“He didn't kill those people. He's _One_.”

 

“Then where did the murderer go?” Four asked.

 

“It doesn't matter. Whoever it is is gone. And we are out of the area. End of story.” One's absence was creating a pit in his stomach. He wanted – _needed_ – to be near him again. Needed to make sure this wasn't a dream. Another dream.

 

“He might talk to you.” Two made eye contact with him. “Find out something.”

 

Three clenched his jaw. He knew she was right. Whether One killed those people or not, there were still too many questions without answers. “Yeah. I'll try.”

 

#

 

One stared at himself in the mirror. He'd stripped off his shirt and got caught by the lack of scars from the bullets he knew he'd taken. He rubbed his fingers over each place and he was back in that penthouse again, taking each one fresh. Jace Corso's face – _his_ face – burned into his memory in that last moment before everything went black.

 

The bathroom door opened. “Hey, did you feel it?”

 

One raised his eyes to Three's in the mirror. “Feel what?”

 

“All the tiny robots in your body having sex. 'Multiplying?'” The grin spread slow over Three's face and One shook his head.

 

“That's...I missed you, too.”

 

Three winked. “Thought you might have. Withdrawal must be kicking your ass right about now.”

 

One stared at him in the mirror. “They think I killed those people in the ship.”

 

“No...”

 

“Four does. You do, too. And I would bet everything that Two thinks it.”

 

Three crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you kill them?”

 

“I didn't want to.”

 

Three nodded. “Okay.”

 

“'Okay?' That's it?” One turned around, leaning back against the sink. “That's all you've got?”

 

“You know I'm not going to freak out about you killing people. They probably deserved it.”

 

“I was gonna leave, but Corso was right at the door.”

 

“We don't have to do this right now.” _Or ever_ , Three added in his head. The last thing he wanted to think about was One's death. Hell, since it happened, he'd gotten a lot better at avoiding thinking about it.

 

“Three...Catherine wasn't the only one who wanted me dead. I think someone talked her into it. Or threatened her. Just so they could have the company.”

 

Three nodded. “Yeah...Corso told Two that someone hired him to kill you. He was going to trade the information for his life, but Two did the right thing. You're publicly dead, they're not coming after you anymore.”

 

“They wouldn't have even had to pay him if they knew he'd do it just for the enjoyment of seeing me dead.” One tapped two fingers in four different places on his chest and stomach, punctuating each with a soft, “Bang.”

 

Three knew he was going to bring them up to his forehead. It was the same wound pattern as every single person on the _Nostromo_. One had done it. He'd definitely been the one to kill all of them.

 

One left this last bullet silent. “I did die, Three. It wasn't a case of nanites fixing the hits to my chest before I died. He shot me in the head. I died. I know I did.”

 

As hard as he looked, Three couldn't see even one scar. He'd be the first to admit that he knew shit about nanites other than the proven fact that Two's were so badass, they kept her alive in _space_. Maybe they could fix a hole in One's head before he died. Maybe they were that special.

 

Three wanted to say something, but he didn't have anything. He was ecstatic that One was alive, here and safe. Though there was something terrifying about the possibility that he had somehow risen from the dead. Technology, eh?

 

In the end, Three dropped his eyes from One. “You need to get cleaned up. You're not setting one piece of you on my bed smelling like that.”

 

“Suddenly you're picky about how _I_ smell? Do you think you're made of roses or something?” One shoved the loose pants down and stepped out of them. The shower had already been on for a few minutes and all he had to do was step in and close the door between them.

 

“Hm...prickly on the outside, soft and warm on the inside...sounds a little more like your thing.”

 

 


	4. Thought you liked me pretty.

 

One stood under the spray, letting the warmth trickle over his scalp, down his neck. Shoulders. It really made sense that someone else had been working with Catherine. Maybe even controlling her. Since waking up in that room, more of his memories of her had been coming back. It was like the wall that had kept him separate from his memories had come down a little more. He couldn't even remember them ever fighting and suddenly she wanted him dead. If Boone hadn't given him the chance he did...

 

One still wondered why. If Boone knew that she was going to call the cops, why didn't he just not show up? He could have ran and when her plan went south...chances are they would have found another guy to do the job. The damage was done, anyway. One wouldn't have been able to trust her again and he would always be wondering who'd wanted him dead.

 

What kind of a life would that have been?

 

Three's body was blurry through the glass. He could ask. Right here, right now. Why save a spoiled rich guy? Why tie him to you like this? Derrick Moss was like an anchor around Marcus Boone's neck. He could ask, but he didn't wasn't sure if he could take the answer.

 

One scrubbed at the blood on his skin, none of it his. “Did the others tell you to keep an eye on me or are you doing it just because you want to?”

 

“Can it be because I did miss you?”

 

“Not because you don't trust me?”

 

“I know you. If you killed them, then you had a damn good reason.”

 

One slid the door open. “There isn't a good reason to just slaughter people.”

 

“Maybe they were gonna space you for being a stowaway. Or – ” Three couldn't continue because One's lips were suddenly against his. The kiss was soft and slow.

 

“I was so stupid...I shouldn't have let them take me back to my old life. I belonged in that prison next to you.” One whispered against him.

 

“You would've hated it. Food's worse than anything we have here.”

 

One went to kiss him again and Three pulled back, dodging him. One's face fell. “Good seeing you. I'll just be in here, murderer back from the dead and full of machines.”

 

Three caught the door when One tried shutting it. “It's not that. You've just been through a lot lately. I don't want – ”

 

“I want. I want you. I want before. I _need_ it, Three. Need you to prove I'm not dead.” One grabbed Three's shirt, tugging him into the shower and this time he got his kiss.

 

Three broke it to look down One's chest. “Not even one scar...”

 

One stripped off Three's shirt. He kissed and bit his skin from his neck down his chest. “Thought you liked me pretty.”

 

“I like you alive. Fuck...” Three moaned. One had bit down on the skin around his nipple. He raked his teeth over it while pulling open Three's pants.

 

Three pushed him until his back hit the shower wall, knocking a bottle of something to slide around his feet. He stripped off his pants himself while One watched, slowly stroking his cock.

 

Three joined him in the shower, knocking One's hand away so he could take over. One let out a shaky moan. “Yes, Three...more...”

 

Three shook his head. “Not here.”

 

One grabbed Three's free hand and pulled it around behind him. He didn't care how desperate he sounded. “Please...I just...I need to feel you. All of you.”

 

“I'm not killing both of us in this shower.” Three turned it off and stepped out. One stalked past him into the other room.

 

Three entered his bedroom to find One already on his hands and knees on the bed. His head was angled to stare at the gun lying on the side of the bed he usually slept on when he stayed here.

 

“Is that Moss?”

 

“Hey, you remembered!”

 

“How could I not? Why is it _here_?”

 

Three strolled to the bed. “He was very worried when I went to prison, so Moss hasn't wanted to leave my side since I got back.”

 

“You've been sleeping with your _gun?_ ” Three ran his teeth over the flesh of One's ass. The shiver ran through One's body and he dropped his head to the mattress so that his ass was the only thing in the air. “Please...”

 

Three chuckled. Against his skin, he said, “You know the rules, Pretty Boy.”

 

“I hate your fucking rules.” One groaned.

 

“But you love the fucking part so much. Come on.” Three licked over him. “Tell me what you want.”

 

One wiggled his hips. “More of that...”

 

“Yeah? More of this?” Three licked over him again, keeping the touch so light he knew One had to barely feel it. “Or this?”

 

One let out a sinful moan when Three plunged his tongue all the way inside. He rocked his whole body back on him. “Three...please...”

 

Three thrust his tongue several more times before pushing in one finger. “You feel so tight.”

 

That made One squeeze his muscles around Three's finger. “Then think about me around your cock and _hurry up_.”

 

Three bit the flesh of One's ass and groaned into it. “In a rush?”

 

“You remember the part where I _died,_ right?”

 

Three added another finger. They'd had plenty of practice at this.

 

“Come _on_...I need you to make this feel real.”

 

Three stopped what he was doing. “What in the hell does that mean?”

 

One pushed his face into the mattress, sinking down and rolling so that his right hip was on the bed. “Everything feels like a dream since I woke up. Like the only real thing is that I'm still dead. Every second, I keep waiting to wake up from this and just be...dead.”

 

One lifted his head to look back at Three. “I really need you to make me forget that for a few minutes. Give me a reason to stay alive. To stay here.”

 

Three pulled One's hips up so he was on his knees again, head down. There wasn't any resistance when he pushed his fingers back in. One moaned at the feeling before letting out a throatier sound when Three hooked his fingers. One buried his face in the mattress. “God, yes...Three...”

 

Three smiled. One squeezed his fingers, groaning as the fingers pulled out. He kept rocking his hips on the air. Three tapped him on the hip. “Turn over.”

 

One raised his head to look back at him. He rolled his eyes, but rolled over without one complaint. His legs fell open around Three. One stared up at him, his eyes bouncing over Three's face.

 

Three had to take a deep breath to calm himself. One wasn't the only one feeling like this was a dream. And the farther it went, the more he felt like he was going to wake up alone at any second.

 

He came down over One, taking his mouth in a kiss that somehow managed to cool things off and ramp up the heat at the same time. In the same way he could tell the other Derrick from Corso, he knew this was One all the way down to his bones.

 

Three eased a little to the side to slide his hand down to One's cock. He stroked him slow, changing the pressure until he had One moaning into his mouth.

 

One broke the kiss to push his head back into the mattress. He grabbed Three's arms, digging his fingers in. “Fuck...fuck me, you asshole...”

 

Three took his hand away and One opened his eyes. He was smiling down at him, but not in his usual cocky way. One tried to keep his eyes open as Three pushed inside. When he bottomed out, Three set to kissing him again.

 

“Why are you so...?” One asked, squeezing around Three's cock.

 

Three moaned. His eyes roamed over One's body. “Missed you.”

 

He rolled his hips into One's. This wasn't going to be some kind of marathon thing and neither of them wanted it to be. When Three was close, he reached for One's cock, stroking him with his thrusts.

 

One's eyes slipped shut. “Three, I'm gonna come...”

 

Three nodded. Sure that One couldn't see him, he mouthed, _I love you._

 

One's body seized up right then. Warmth hit Three's stomach and One grabbed at him, pulling Three down into a kiss. Three thrust again and One twisted under him, moaning into his mouth. One squeezed him and arched his back, trying to help him along.

 

“Come on,” One whispered against his lips, “you feel so good. Come...”

 

Three growled and there it was. He thrust hard into One, burying his head in One's shoulder. When he could move, Three rolled to the side. “Ah...”

 

Three had to pull Moss out from under his back where it was digging into him. He rolled to gently lay the gun on the floor. When he rolled back, One was propped up on one elbow, watching him. “What?”

 

One shook his head. “Just trying to figure out who you love more: me or the gun?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Hump Day! Thanks for reading and I'll see you Friday.


	5. We're untouchable.

 

Three's eyes narrowed and then he dropped to lie flat on his back. “Shit.”

 

“Shit.” One echoed.

 

“You saw.”

 

“I saw. So...when did that happen?”

 

“When I realized life was a lot more boring without you in it. Pissing me off...injecting your dumb feelings into _everything...”_

 

“Sucking your cock every time you need it sucked...”

 

Three thumped him on the chest. “Exactly! Anyway, it's not like you have to say it back. You know...momentary insanity on my part.”

 

One scooted closer, pressing himself up against Three. “I would say it back, but...you do tend to call my feelings 'dumb,' so...fuck you.”

 

“If that'll make you happy, I'm game.”

 

One lifted up to look at him. He knew what that meant, but there was still the urge to pick at it until he got annoyed and reversed the offer. He barely kept that urge under control. “You're different. What happened since I...since I've been gone?”

 

“Oh, you know...the usual. Oh! I killed the guy that raised me after he killed my parents.”

 

“What?” It started with a smile and then One was laughing. He pushed his face into Three's chest. “Only you. That is something that would only happen to you. I...I can't top that.”

 

“Hey, people keep trying to kill you for that company. That's kinda interesting. Plus, the whole coming-back-from-the-dead thing.”

 

One kissed his chest. “Thing is, after five minutes, I was ready to hand the company over to the first guy that asked for it.”

 

Three ran his fingers over One's back. “So you could scurry back to the _Raza?_ ”

 

“So I could devote more time to getting you guys out of prison. Then we could all 'scurry back to the _Raza_.'”

 

“Like we needed any help from the likes of a rich boy like you.”

 

One pushed up to stare at him. “Huh uh, being dead kinda cuts all of the same monetary ties as becoming someone else.”

 

“Hm...least you've still got your looks.”

 

“Wouldn't have that if I stayed too much longer. They were already talking about getting me into a center and having my face changed back.”

 

“Good thing that didn't happen. My memory's hazy, but that Derrick Moss isn't you.”

 

“I have some more of my memory back. The nanites, I guess. But they don't feel like my memories. He's someone else.” One smiled, but there was something wrong with it. The way it stayed out of his eyes. The smile slowly wilted and he averted them from Three. “Now more than ever.”

 

“Do you remember what it felt like when you died?”

 

One shut his eyes and Three cursed his mouth for running without his mind behind it. He was about to apologize when One began and he just couldn't tell him to stop. Couldn't tell him how horrible it was of him to ask that and he really deserved the title of asshole right in that moment. In fact, he'd never deserved it more.

 

“The first four really hurt. The one...the last one...was like this burst in my head. Then nothing. Until I woke up on that station. I wish they had just left me alone. If I'd been in prison, Corso wouldn't have gotten me. I don't give a shit about CoreLactic or any of my old life.”

 

Three shook his head. “You would've hated prison. Zero privacy, shitty food, people were trying to kill us and meaningless jobs. They had me working _laundry_.”

 

“Sounds like a normal day on the _Raza_. If we could get you to do your own laundry, much less anyone else's.” One smiled, putting his head back down on Three's chest. He listened to Three's heartbeat and it was the best music he'd heard in his life.

 

#

 

The advertisement was full of happy, healthy faces. Each one wore a very unsettling smile. Two didn't like it. A soft female voice spoke in the background.

 

“ _Aging. Disease. Death. BioBe is actively striving to fix all of the problems biology has given us. We will help you be better. Be stronger. Biobe.”_

 

Two pinched the bridge of her nose. 'Biological flaws?' Death is a biological _flaw_? Since One mentioned BioBe, she couldn't stop thinking about what Corso said before she killed him about there being bigger players involved. Corporations.

 

There were so many questions. Did someone at his own company want him dead? If that was the case, why bring him back? And then why let him escape?

 

Two spun her chair to get up and stopped. One was standing only a few feet away, eyes on the monitor with the Ad from BioBe frozen on it. She hadn't heard him enter and he hadn't said anything. “Feeling better?”

 

One blinked, his eyes dropping to hers. He shook his head and then nodded. “Yeah. All clean. Three's asleep. On the cot. He found. He's sleeping on the cot he found.”

 

She tried to not smile at his rambling. “Probably the best sleep he's gotten since the news came in. He's an expert at hiding it, but he was a mess when we heard about you.”

 

One went to sit at one of the other panels, spinning the chair to face her. “Let me guess: he wanted to be the one to kill me?”

 

“One.”

 

“I wish you could've gotten out faster. Saved Corso a trip.”

 

“About him, he mentioned that someone else hired him to kill you. It wasn't just about his face.”

 

One nodded. “It was a bit after we woke up that I started having these dreams. At first, I thought I was just going crazy. But then there were these parts that seemed more real. Like memories. I knew it was real when Three remembered the same things.”

 

“Why didn't you tell us you were remembering things?”

 

“It only really seemed important to us. Personally. We knew each other before the _Raza_. Someone hired Marcus Boone to kill Derrick Moss.” He paused. “Catherine, my wife, was the one Boone made the contract with. But after this, I think someone else was behind it. Someone that wanted CoreLactic.”

 

“And I killed Catherine when I found out she was going to have me arrested for Derrick's murder.” Three said from the door. “That's just not very nice. Much like leaving me to wake up to the fact that you must have been one incredibly clingy dream.”

 

One at least looked apologetic, glancing at Two. The secret about them was apparently out and he got the feeling that it had been before he got back. “Sorry. Woke up and couldn't go back to sleep.”

 

“Give a guy a little warning next time. You're talking about who might've hired Corso?”

 

“Yeah, you know, since someone wants me dead.”

 

Three shook his head. “Doesn't matter because you're home and with the Blink Drive, we're untouchable. You're safe.”

 

Three leaned against the wall, rubbing his face. “Why am I so tired?”

 

“Glad you finally admit it.” Two said.

 

“Hey,” Three yawned, “shut up, Boss Lady.”

 

“What if I'm not?” One said softly.

 

“Tired? I mean, I'm not going to make you go to bed, but – ”

 

“Safe.” One stared down at his own hands. “Even if I am, how do you know that you're safe with me?”

 

“One – ” Two started.

 

One snapped his head up. “Come on. You found a ship full of brutally murdered people and only one survivor covered in blood. If it was anyone but me, you'd be more suspicious. The same way Four is.”

 

“What do you suggest we do?” Two asked.

 

One glanced at Three. “I think you need to lock me up. If it happens again, I don't want to hurt any of you.”

 

“We'd stop you.” Three said.

 

“How many men were on that ship? They couldn't stop me. If I – ”

 

“Hypothetical shit is stupid,” Three cut in, crossing the room to One. “Besides, they didn't have Four and me and Two and Nyx is just as good as Four. I think we can handle one pretty boy. Come on.”

 

One got up and followed Three, stopping by Two. “Please, lock me up if I start acting weird.”

 

She nodded. “Of course.”

 

One turned to Three and he nodded, as well. “Yeah, yeah. You wig out, we lock up. Got it. Come on, I'm tired and I think you could use some sleep, too.”

 

They were almost to Three's room when One stopped. His mind automatically went to the nightmare that woke him up. It was so real that he could almost see the destruction he'd caused throughout the _Raza_. There was no way he could sleep.

 

“What?” Three turned to him.

 

“I'm hungry. You go back to bed.”

 

“One.”

 

“This is my home, too. I think I can walk around by myself.”

 

“I'll come with you. I'm waking up, anyway.”

 

“You don't have to.”

 

“You're the one that just said you might go crazy and try to kill all of us. You need someone close that can knock you out.”

 

One blinked at him. “Right. You're right. You're completely right. I think I'm tired. Must be.”

 

“Are you sure you're okay? You're acting weird.”

 

One's eyes went to the door and he flashed on the dream. Walking through the _Raza_ , blood and bodies everywhere. A shiver went through his body and he shut his eyes. “I...no. Probably not.”

 

 

 

 


	6. Figured you'd freak out.

 

“One – ” Three couldn't finish because One blindly honed in on his mouth. One forced all of the same desperation he'd felt in the shower into this kiss.

 

Three hummed into it, appreciating the kiss, but as nice as it felt, it wasn't going to make him forget that One was acting off. One seemed to know that and he shoved him into the door, making the kiss deeper. He pushed his body against Three's to make sure he was definitely responding to it.

 

One kissed his way over Three's jaw and down his neck. He pulled back to watch Three as he sank to his knees. Three looked up and down the hallway. It was empty, but how long until someone came by? He grabbed One's hand before he could reach in and pull him out. “Here? We could go inside – ”

 

One's voice sounded wrecked even though they hadn't done anything. “Three...”

 

How could someone say no to that? Three's hand slid off One's and he resumed pulling Three's cock into the open. One ran his hand over the hot flesh twice before sucking him into his mouth.

 

Three let out a shaking breath, threading his fingers into One's hair. “I used to be better at this than you.”

 

One pulled off with a small pop. “Guess you're just out of practice.”

 

Three's head rolled back into the door when One took him back into his mouth. “Tell me who you've been practicing on so I can kill him.”

 

“Possessive?”

 

“As hell.”

 

Three lost himself in every bit of One that he could feel. Hair, soft under his fingers. Body warm and alive where it pressed against his legs. One's mouth, his tongue, even the light scrape of his teeth over Three's cock. One knew what Three liked even if he wouldn't admit it. The thought that One could hurt him so bad if he wanted to had heat filling his stomach.

 

The click of footsteps had Three's eyes shooting open. Any other time, the slightest noise would have stopped One. Instead, he just seemed to suck harder. The words, 'something is wrong!' flashed in bright neon lights in his mind.

 

Hell, he would stop them no matter how deep they were, if he so much as heard a sound in the hall outside the room. The _locked_ room. And then one of them would have to get up and check. It was annoying as hell, but One's lack of response at the steps was alarming.

 

Three tugged on One's hair and, if possible, he sucked harder, forcing Three into his throat for a second. Three's own throat closed up and an incredibly embarrassing sound crept out.

 

Five froze the second they were in view. Her wide eyes locked on Three's and they just stared at each other for what felt like forever in Three's mind. One pulled off, kissing down the underside of his cock to mouth at his balls.

 

“Oh, God...” Three bounced his head back against the door. At the sound, One sucked all of him back inside and the thought that Five might still be there, watching them and knowing exactly what they were doing, finished him.

 

Three opened his eyes and was relieved to find the kid missing. With any luck, he could force himself to believe that she'd left _before_ he came. Because thinking about anyone watching them together made his cock twitch again.

 

“Whoa!” One ducked to lick up that last bit. “What are you thinking about so hard?”

 

Three really thought about this. On the one hand, he could tell One about Five possibly seeing him come and _maybe_ that would be okay. Maybe One would drag him into his room and beg to be fucked. Three's dick wouldn't necessarily work this fast, but there were plenty of things he could do to One.

 

Or it could freak him out to the point that he would never agree to have sex again.

 

Three started when One kissed him. He hadn't noticed One putting him back in his pants, much less standing. Three moaned at the taste of himself, sending his tongue out to lick the inside of One's mouth. One ground himself to Three's hip.

 

“Hey...doing this out here...you don't care about getting caught...anymore?” Three said, his words broken by One's mouth coming back to his over and over.

 

“Maybe not.”

 

That was definitely new. Three slid his hands down to grope One's ass. He helped One rock harder against him. “So you're saying you might not care if someone came around the corner right now?”

 

“Fuck...” One shuddered and dropped his head to Three's shoulder.

 

Three decided that yes, this was definitely worth exploring. “So if I tell you someone did come up about a minute ago...?”

 

One turned his head, groaning straight into the skin of his neck. “Who?”

 

Three licked his lips, wondering if the truth would break this surreal moment. He could just say it was Two, but there was a chance she would've come to join them. Truth sounded better. Plus, he was curious as hell how far One would push this. “Five. Five came up in time for you to show her my cock. And I kinda blacked out a little, so...I have no idea if she saw me come.”

 

“Fuck,” One bit into the side of his neck, his whole body shuddering as he thrust against him. He whimpered into Three's skin as he came. Then Three and the door were the only things holding One up. “Where did that even come from?”

 

“I know, right?” Three squeezed One's ass just to feel him shiver against him. “I wasn't even planning on telling you because I figured you'd freak out.”

 

One tensed. “You were just telling me about some weird fantasy, right?”

 

“Um...”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you have a lovely weekend and I'll be seeing you Monday. :)


	7. Shame looks really good on you.

One pulled away from him, wide-eyed. He started shaking his head while his mouth worked on figuring out how to say, “No.”

 

One flung his arm out to hit the button for the door without looking. Three stumbled to stay on his feet as One pushed past him into the room.

 

“Five? _Five_?! Jesus, Three! We should have stopped when she walked up!” One spun around, narrowing his eyes at Three. “You got off on it!”

 

“Hey, so did you! Or do you suddenly not remember a minute ago where you were losing it just _imagining_ Five walking up?”

 

One's whole face flushed red and then it went pale. He rocked on his feet before falling to sit on the bed. When his face started to pink again, Three asked, “Are you okay?”

 

“I can't live on this ship anymore. We have to leave. We have to take the _Marauder_ and leave now.”

 

Three shook his head, coming further into the room. “We're not going anywhere.”

 

“She's just a kid, Three! And she saw us...saw me doing...”

 

Three sat next to him with a sigh. “You were sucking my cock. But I think she really got that it was a little more like worship.”

 

“She's just a kid, Three...” One whined again.

 

“I'm sure she's fine. She is one of us. That counts for something _._ ”

 

“Three.”

 

“Besides, she left us alone to finish on our own. She wouldn't have thought to do that if she was traumatized.”

 

One dropped his face into his hands. “Shit...”

 

It started with a smile that morphed into a full-blown grin. He grabbed him and pulled One into a hug. One's head was at his chest. “What are you doing?”

 

“Shame looks really good on you. Kind of adorable. Like a kid who just got caught doing something very, very bad.”

 

One squirmed, fighting against him until he got free. “God, what's wrong with you?”

 

Three stared at him, eyes taking in the fading flush on his face. “I love you, for one.”

 

“You're really not just saying that.”

 

It wasn't a question, but Three still nodded. He dropped into a seat beside One. “Scary, huh?”

 

“More like shocking and out of character. To be honest, I'm not even sure you're the real Three right now.”

 

Three flopped back on the bed. “So does that mean you don't think you could tell me and a double apart?”

 

One let Three pull him down. He rolled to straddle Three's stomach. “Like you could tell this was me if I didn't tell you.”

 

“You'd be surprised.”

 

One quirked an eyebrow. “Did something happen when you went after Corso?”

 

“No!” Three shrugged. “We...ended up in another reality where our minds were never wiped. And there was this guy who looked a lot like you.”

 

“Oh, well that's believable. I assume that it was the real Corso in the 'other reality.'”

 

Three shook his head. “Actually, it was Derrick Moss. Corso caught up to them early on and they killed him. Together.”

 

“So that really was another me...Bet you were happy for the replacement.”

 

“A little. But he wasn't you. Being on the _Raza,_ living like we did...it made him more like Corso. He didn't talk like you or kiss like – ”

 

“You _kissed_ him?” One's eyes turned to stone. “Did you fuck him, too?”

 

“Hey, he kissed me because he thought I was Boone! I couldn't do it, anyway. He wasn't you. Then I found out he was in love with his Boone and then I thought maybe...”

 

“You thought if they could love each other, then I might be more to you than just some sex object?”

 

Three pulled him down into a slow kiss. “You are the best sex object in the universe. Yes, we had a chat and I thought maybe I wasn't getting past your death the way I thought I was.”

 

“You want me to leave and give you some time to finish grieving?”

 

Three bounced his lips off One's a few times. “Leave and I will hunt you down and keep you tied up in my room for the rest of your life.”

 

One smiled against his lips. “I love you, too.”

 

Three pulled One's hips against him and One jumped, a hiss escaping his lips. “Oh, my God...I have a mess to clean up.”

 

Three grinned. “Ripping out a few short and curlies?”

 

One slid off of him. “I feel like all I've done since getting back on the _Raza_ is come and shower.”

 

Three pulled himself up higher until all of him was on the bed. “Maybe because that is all you've done. Begging for my cock, sucking my cock, rubbing up against me like some kid...you're draining me dry, babe.”

 

One blinked at him. “Did you just...?”

 

“Yeah, yeah I did. What you gonna do about it?”

 

“I need to go pry my pants off of...me.” One forced himself to head to the shower. He tried his damnedest to walk normal and when that didn't work, he settled for moving as fast as he could out of the room to the soundtrack of Three's laughter.

 

When he came back, Three was on his back, arms and legs spread to take up as much of the bed as he could in sleep. One's lips pulled into a smile. He was thinking about how he was going to have to force Three to make room for One to sleep, too. Three was such a bed hog sometimes.

 

The smile slid off of his face. All of One's muscles tensed and him being tired suddenly didn't matter. Nothing did because he had lost all control of his body again. Just like on that other ship. He dressed and slipped into the hall. The Infirmary was empty. He found an empty syringe and slid it into his arm. The plastic tube filled with his blood.

 

Back in Three's room, he couldn't stop himself from hitting the button and sending his blood straight into Three's arm. Three stirred and then abruptly dropped off again. The nanites were spreading through his body.

 

One pulled more of his own blood into the syringe and his feet took him to the next occupied room.

 

 


	8. Yeah, I'm sure that is not going to be half as fun as it sounds.

Five noticed the brush of energy on her skin the second it happened. No one had said anything about using the Blink Drive. As far as she knew, everyone was asleep except for the Android.

 

Five took off for the Bridge at a run, but she stopped short at the sound of voices inside. She crept closer, hugging the wall to keep out of sight.

 

“The crew have begun the integration process.” The Android said.

 

Five didn't want to risk being seen if she leaned into the door, so all she heard was a man's voice. It sounded like it was coming through the screen. _“Very good. That is much faster than projected. The entire crew?”_

 

“Everyone except for Five. The girl.”

 

“ _She is of no consequence, anyway. We can find some other use for her once you've docked.”_

 

“Make no mistake, she is a part of the crew. She's smart and good with technology. She helps us be as efficient as we are.” This time, it was Two speaking. Her voice was soft, dreamy. Wrong.

 

There was a long pause and then, _“Okay. Bring the_ Raza _in.”_

 

Five was off and running before the ship began to move. Three's room was the closest and she shot inside. The men were curled up on the bed asleep. She had a moment of remembering what she'd seen in the hall and then she called Three's name. When that didn't work, she started shaking him.

 

One's eyes opened and focused on her. His face pinked and she knew he remembered last night, too. “Wha-?”

 

“Something's wrong with Two and the Android and we're about to dock somewhere.” The words shot out so fast that they almost ran together.

 

All of the sleep disappeared from his face and he shoved Three hard. Three snorted, rolling onto his back. “Get started without me. I'll join in when I wake up.”

 

“Something's _wrong_ ,” Five said. She did take a little enjoyment in the look of terror on his face as his eyes locked on her.

 

“Something other than you sneaking into my room when I'm asleep?” He sat up, the sheet dropping to pool in his lap.

 

“Something's wrong with Two and the Android and we're about to – ”

 

The whole ship jumped and she fell on top of them. Three helped her sit up. “And we're about to dock? Any idea where?”

 

Five stood and walked toward the door, giving them her back while they dressed. She told them everything she heard.

 

“'Integration process?'” One said.

 

“Yeah, I'm sure that is not going to be half as fun as it sounds.” Three said with a grunt. It took everything in her to not think about what she'd seen last night.

 

“It was so weird...the Android didn't sound like herself.” Five turned when Three tapped her shoulder. She took the handgun he gave her. “And neither did Two.”

 

“You're sure that it wasn't Portia? Her brain-scan being uploaded again?” Three asked.

 

“All of the scans were deleted.” Five pursed her lips. “It didn't sound like Portia, anyway. She was...cruel. Cold. Two just sounds...empty.”

 

Three nodded. “We need to make sure everyone else is ready for whatever this is. We'll go get Nyx and Four, you get Six.

 

There was no one in the hall. Three watched Five go, carrying the gun like a pro. Something like pride filled him that the kid was actually growing into being one of them. He and One went the other way.

 

One grabbed Three's arm when they reached Four's door. “Go on, I can get Four.”

 

Two's voice came through the Comms. “I need to see all of you on the Bridge in five minutes.”

 

Three nodded, pecking One on the lips. “Don't die.”

 

“You, too.” One opened the door. Four was already half-dressed.

 

Four tensed, dropping his shirt to grab the sword on the bed. One pointed the gun at the ceiling, the other hand just open. “I know you don't trust my miraculous return. Neither do I. Two just docked us somewhere and Five heard some weird stuff. Five and Three are getting the others.”

 

Four nodded. They met the others in the hallway. As one and on guard, they went to the Bridge. Two and the Android stood flanking a man in a crisp suit. There weren't any guards. Just him.

 

“Darius?” One said. “Why are you here?”

 

The man's eyes went to every one of them, lingering the longest on Five. “I'm here to inform you that the crew of the _Raza_ now belongs to CoreLactic Industries. Made possible by BioBe Research.”

 

“Yeah, I don't think so.” Three lined his gun up, readying a shot to the man's head if he had to.

 

The man raised his wrist to his mouth and spoke into a black band there. “Marcus Boone, put your gun to the girl's head.”

 

Five jumped when she felt the gun touch her. Three grabbed her upper arm tight, squeezing it hard and keeping her in place. His face was completely blank like Two's. “Three?”

 

She squirmed in his hold, making him follow her head with the gun. Darius spoke into the band again. “Ishida Ryo, hold her still.”

 

Four pulled her arms behind her back. Her finger squeezed the trigger and the only sign she'd hit him was a tightening of his hands on her arms.

 

“Marcus, press the gun into the side of her head until I tell you to stop.”

 

Five squirmed as best she could before the gun touched her again. Three went beyond just touching, though, and she only cried out as it felt like he was going to push the gun into her skull.

 

“Stop.” Three stopped instantly.

 

“Why are you doing this?” One asked. “I'm technically dead. You _have_ CoreLactic. I don't want it back.”

 

“That may be, Derrick, but the crew of the _Raza_ is a very good acquisition. Good for us. Good for your father's company. Imagine all of the possibilities with the _Raza_ under our control.” He spoke into the band. “Derrick Moss. Finish the integration.”

 

Five moaned when the needle slid into her neck. There was a hiss and her neck was flooded with cold. The world shook. Everything moved weird when she turned to look at One's blank face. “One?”

 

There wasn't enough time for her to have another thought before her body went limp.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit's about to get real. Thanks for reading!


	9. Shut your eyes and breathe.

 

The room was blurry until it wasn't. Just like that, she could see and feel and, most importantly, think. The room was barely bigger than the bed she was lying on. Dark, like a cell. The only light came from the small window in the door.

 

Five sat up and the room spun. “Whoa.”

 

Something moved in the corner of the room, but she had to shut her eyes. Whatever danger she was in, she was already in it. Someone touched her face and then fingers pulled her eyelids up to look at them. Five got a flash of One's face before she batted him away from her.

 

“Sorry...I might've used a little too much.”

 

Five clapped a hand to the side of her neck. She remembered Three's gun digging into the side of her head and then the prick of the needle One pushed into her neck. “Too much what? I think I'm gonna throw up...”

 

One looked at the door. “Sedative. I didn't stick you with the...other stuff. We've got a 48 hour window before they start worrying about you not showing up on the scans. Shut your eyes and breathe.”

 

Five did and she felt his mouth on her forehead. After about a minute, it did help. Enough for all of her other questions to come pouring out. “Why did you? Where are we? The others?”

 

“Everyone's okay. Mostly.” One sank to sit beside her. “We're in the BioBe labs. They programmed the nanites to turn me into some kind of Trojan horse to control the _Raza.”_

 

“Why do they want to control the _Raza_?” Five glanced at the small window, positive she would find a face there looking back at her.

 

“So we can do their dirty work and they can put the blame on someone else. Basically taking the _Raza_ back to where it was before we woke up. Payments will only be enough to live on and we won't have any say in what they make us do.”

 

Five felt numb. “What do we do?”

 

One stared down between his feet. “I...have no idea. But you're it. You're the only one of us that's really free right now. Someone says 'Derrick Moss' and I can resist a little, but they still have me.”

 

“Nanites are essentially tiny computers. If they're controlling them...then they have to have programming somewhere.” Her face lit up. “Is it just the one from the ship or can others give commands?”

 

“We're in upper research and all of the staff have the bands. They only need the band to bring us into the controlled state. After that, all you need is a name. They'll do anything you say.”

 

“Anything?”

 

“One word and Three would have shot you. He would never forgive himself, but he'd do it. Just like I killed everyone on the _Nostromo._ So that's what you have to do. If they say your name, then you have to do everything they say. Fake it or they'll give you the nanites for real.”

 

Five took a deep breath. “Okay...I need to get a look at their computers. Maybe I can deactivate the nanites.”

 

Something passed over One's face and then it was gone. He nodded. “That's my girl.”

 

“Do you think you can get me one of those bands?”

 

“Thought you'd never ask.” One reached into his pocket and pulled out a black strap. “Unlocked office. Since they can control me, they're not so worried about me having freedom. The others are still locked up, though.”

 

Even with everything she knew, it was hard to believe that something so small could be so dangerous. For a second, she could feel Three's gun pressing into the side of her head. One word and he would have pulled the trigger while Four held her still. Four...

 

“Oh my God, I think I shot Four.”

 

One nodded. “You did. But I've seen him, Five, he's okay. All healed up. No hard feelings, either.”

 

“What about Three?”

 

The look on his face told her it wasn't good. “I don't know. You know how much he likes people trying to control him. Listen to me. If you can't do anything about the nanites, I'm trying to figure out a way to get you out of here.”

 

“One – ”

 

“You can keep working on the nanites outside. If they find out you don't have the nanites, it's over.”

 

“I'm not leaving anyone.”

 

“Five, please.”

 

“I've got 48 hours, right? More time than I need.” She forced a smile.

 

There was a little smile on his face as he crossed to the door. “Just be ready.”

 

“Always am.” Five tucked the band under the pillow when One tensed after opening the door. He backed up and she heard a woman's voice.

 

“Would you like to tell me about your little visit with Miss Kolburn?”

 

One shook his head. “Not really.”

 

“Derrick Moss, step aside.”

 

One's back straightened and he did as she commanded. The woman stepped into the room to get a look at Five. Her hair was a deep red twisted into a bun tight against the back of her head and she wore a white lab coat that covered her to her knees. The black of the band on her wrist stuck out against all of that white. This time, she didn't bring the band to her mouth. “Derrick, why did you come see this girl?”

 

One's face twitched and Five wondered if he really could fight the nanites' control. “She's the youngest member of our crew. I just wanted to check on her. Make sure she's okay.”

 

“Derrick, I need you to come with me for some additional tests. Miss Kolburn,” the woman's eyes ran over Five's face, “I know all of this must be a shock, but being behind the shield of CoreLactic in the coming war is a much better place than being on your own.”

 

“Under your control.” Five said.

 

She smiled. “I find predictable behavior much more preferable than chaos. There will be some tests for you soon and then you may be able to join the rest of the crew.” Into the band, she said, “Derrick Moss, that is all.”

 

One visibly relaxed. A tremor went through his shoulders. He glanced at Five and left. As soon as she was alone, Five grabbed the band and set to figuring it out.

 

 


	10. Jump!

 

Three sat on one of the beds with his forearms braced on his legs. Since regaining control over himself, the floor had become his favorite thing to look at. It beat watching Six pace the room and wondering how in the hell Four was able to just sit there with his eyes shut like they all hadn't had their bodies hijacked. Frankly, it gave him flashbacks of when Wexler had shot Two out of the airlock.

 

One and Five were somewhere outside and the good doctors had taken Two away. Three had caught some snippets of what they were saying and none of it sounded good. She'd had her own nanites before One injected the new ones, so who knew what was going to happen there.

 

There was a flare of anger and then it slipped away again. Three hadn't been able to hold on to any emotion since he came out of it. He didn't know if it was something to do with those damn machines or just shock that there hadn't been anything he could do to fight them. He was sure he could feel all of them crawling under his skin like an itch that he would never be able to get away from.

 

A scratch that could make him kill everyone around him without another thought.

 

“I still can't believe you're not throwing a fit.” Six said for the seventh time. Same words and Three answered the same way he had each time. This little exchange was all they had after all the hours they'd been here.

 

“What's the point?”

 

“How about doing something other than sitting there? Like trying to find a way out of this mess.”

 

Three looked up at him. “Then what, Genius? Two is probably being broken down for spare parts out there and even if we do get out of this room, all anyone has to do is say, 'Stop,' and we're done.”

 

Six's whole being seemed to sink in on itself. It was obvious that he was only barely holding in his own panic. Three felt like crap for bringing him down when he was just trying to keep a hand on his sanity here. Six sank onto one of the beds.

 

After another minute, Three said, “Would it really make you feel better if I throw a little fit?”

 

Six sighed. That was different. He usually just stayed quiet until he started the routine pacing again. “Probably not. I just...we don't even know what's happening to the others.”

 

“And there is literally no way out of here.” Three added.

 

“Will the two of you shut up?” Four snapped. Nyx was sitting on the bed behind him with her back braced on the wall. She put a hand on his shoulder and the tension drained away.

 

“Look who decided to speak his first words in a whole lot of hours.” Three said.

 

The door opened. Three jumped up when he saw One. Then he saw the woman step in behind him. Her eyes bounced to all three of them, but One's stayed on him.

 

“Hello, my name is Dr. Fremont,” the woman said with a smile. She didn't look very accustomed to it. “I'm going to be running some tests on all of you to make sure everything is okay.”

 

“Okay? Okay?! You don't need tests to see that none of this is okay!” Three came up to the woman and One barely got between them, grabbing Three.

 

Almost as if he could sense her movement, One turned his head to speak to the doctor. “Please don't. He'll cooperate. We all will.”

 

One eased off of Three and turned to face her. “You don't have to control us like that.”

 

Dr. Fremont's eyes stayed on Three over his shoulder. “I promise I'll only use it if it's a matter of security.”

 

One reached behind him to take Three's hand. “He'll behave.”

 

“Then I guess you're first, Mr. Boone.” Dr. Fremont stepped out into the hallway.

 

One spun to put his mouth at Three's ear. “Five is working on a way free.”

 

Three watched him get to the door before following. He got as close to One as he could. “How?!

 

“Trust us?” One whispered.

 

Three nodded. He did trust them. If they'd found out about One's involvement with injecting them with nanites before feeling that absolute control, it would be a different story. But not with how they'd turned Three into a puppet, too. Turned them all into that. One hadn't had a choice and they hadn't locked him up when he told them they should.

 

Three remembered pushing the gun into Five's head. He remembered the instant the knowledge hit that if they told him to, he would kill her. There was nothing he could do to stop it. To save her.

 

Something warm bumped his hand and lingered until Three looked at him. He could see the question in One's eyes and he nodded. He was okay for now. Never been more helpless in his life, but okay.

 

Dr. Fremont led them from one hallway to the next. They were all designed to look the same. Made escapes difficult if you got lost.

 

Out of this hallway, they entered a large area that seemed to be the central place for research. There were other scientists and doctors. Other experiments going on here and who knows what in all of the other rooms in this station. Just from what they could see here, it was not a small station.

 

Dr. Fremont took them to a window that looked in on a white room. When she saw them, Two jumped up, going to bang on the glass. One touched the glass over where her hand was. Her head jerked to the side several times, her eyes clenching shut. When she looked at them, she was scared.

 

“Why is she separated from us?” Three asked.

 

“What's wrong with her?” One asked.

 

“We've found that she is a mix of biological and synthetic parts. The nanites that were in her body have begun writing over ours. There is a fight going on inside of her that's forcing the nanites to misfire. Do you know who created her?”

 

Three and One shared a quick look. Three spoke. “Nah. Her past is as blank as the rest of ours.”

 

Dr. Fremont looked at him, raising her wrist to her mouth. “Really? I could ask you for the truth.”

 

“Alexander Rook,” One said. “He's with Dwarf Star. If you want any answers about her, then you have to go to him.”

 

“Yeah.” Three gave One a look. “You should give him a call. I bet he'd really love to chat about nanites and other nanite-related things.”

 

“That probably won't be necessary, but I'll make a note just in case. We are getting very close to cracking what will help us commandeer the original nanites. Come with me.”

 

Another hallway and Three was sure that she was twisting them around on purpose to make sure they would be too lost to find a way out of here. Frankly, it was a nice tactic and Three was finding it very effective.

 

Three kept sneaking glances at One, but he never got anything back. There was this look on his face, though, like he was focused on something that had all of his attention. He wished he could figure out what was going on in his head. If he was coming up with a plan, then Three wanted in on it.

 

Okay, they had definitely taken a couple turns, back-tracking down different halls. Three's mind kept trying to orient itself, but no go.

 

Dr. Fremont stopped them at a room with a screen covering one wall and a black belt stretching the length of the floor on the opposite wall. Nothing else. She pressed a couple things on a panel that extended away from the screen and the whole wall lit up. Three's entire body was outlined on the left while every little thing his body did was recorded on the right.

 

“Alright, Mr. Boone, I need you to stand on the belt.”

 

Sharing another look with One, he did. Dr. Fremont did something else and the belt began to move, forcing him into a jog. After a minute, the speed went up to a run. Every hiccup his body made was projected onto the screen. While Three ran on a treadmill, One split his attention between watching him and trying to take in the information on the screen.

 

The belt under him kept jumping in speed until his chest flashed red on the screen. Three didn't need to see the screen, he felt like his heart was going to explode. The belt stayed at that speed and Three thought he was going to die.

 

“Stop! You've gotta stop this!” One's yell broke through the twin engines of his heavy breathing and the heart pounding in his ears.

 

Well, at least he got to hear One's voice one last time. Not exactly the things he wanted to hear him yelling, but he didn't mind it so much. His vision went dark around the edges and then the pain in his chest eased up and he could suddenly breathe a lot better.

 

The speed began to go up again until his chest flashed red. Three couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't stop.

 

“Look, you got what you wanted. Stop this.” One's voice came from too far away.

 

The world started going black around the edges again and then one word came clear in his mind. 'Jump.'

 

Three did. Both feet left the belt and they both came back down. The second they touched the speeding belt, Three flew back into the wall. A crack and then then his vision blacked out completely.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	11. Don't.

One stood stunned for the first couple of seconds after Three hit the wall. He'd seen the way his head hit and the way he dropped to the floor wasn't natural. Wasn't _Three_ falling, just his body.

One dropped beside him, rolling Three to feel the back of his head. His skull moved unnaturally under his hand and the hand he pulled back was red. Three flopped limp on his back and One felt of his throat until he found a weak pulse. He let out a breath and looked at Dr. Fremont. She was just standing back by the screen, watching Three.

"Hey! What the fuck are you doing?! We need help here!" One kept his fingers on the pulse, terrified if he lost it, Three would be gone.

Dr. Fremont's face didn't so much as twitch and One knew. She was going to watch him die like some failed science experiment. He wasn't human to her. One's voice broke as the beat faltered against his skin. "Please...save him. You can't let him die like this."

But it already didn't matter. The beat stopped. One dug his fingers into the flesh under Three's jaw, but he couldn't find it again.

The doctor never moved.

One got up, Three's blood already growing cold on his fingers. Dr. Fremont's eyes were on Three, not him. Even so, One only got within two feet of her before her arm was up. "Derrick Moss."

One forced it. He brought his hands up, both of his arms shaking with the effort it took to fight the nanites. Dr. Fremont's eyes widened at that. "Hm."

One's muscles burned and he managed one more step. "Aaaaaggghhhh!"

When he stopped fighting it, his arms went limp. One backed away from her. Something on the screen caught his eye. There was something happening to the little white dots on Three's shape. They were all gathering in his chest where his heart should be and in his head.

#

Three had a headache that was fading fast. As hard as he tried, he couldn't remember when it started or how he'd gotten it. He opened his eyes and One was right there. He was paler than Three could remember seeing him. His eyes burned into him, though. "Hey, Pretty Boy."

There was a flash of a smile on One's face and then it was gone just as fast. "Are you okay? You were out for a minute, there."

"What happened?"

One opened his mouth and then he just sighed. It drew Three's attention there. If that hadn't happened, then he wouldn't have noticed One's mouth not moving at all even though he knew it was One's voice he heard. ' _Be okay. Please. I love you. We're gonna get through this. I love you. Be okay. I love you...'_

Three tried to sit up, all of his attention on the fact that One's lips didn't move. "How...? You gotta slow down if you want me to catch all that."

One's eyebrows bunched up and he looked like he was going to say something. He changed his mind and angled his head toward the doctor. "We're done here."

Dr. Fremont's back was to them. "The potential for healing is remarkable."

One helped Three stand. Three coughed. "That's great. Really. Glad my pain can make you so damn happy. Can we go back, now?"

"Not just yet. I have one more thing to look at and it's actually the reason I wanted you here, Mr. Moss." Dr. Fremont did several quick things on the screen.

Heat filled Three's skin. "Ah..."

"Three? What is it?"

One's voice made it worse. Three backed up until he hit the wall. He dug his fingernails into his palms. "What...what did you do..?"

"I moved the nanites to activate the hormones involved in arousal. We have to record how complete the control is."

"You _what?_ " One turned to her and Three grabbed his arm, keeping him close. "Turn it off. Make it stop."

Three moaned low. His head rolled back to thump on the wall and One got a really good look at the way Three's pupils were dilated. "God, you gotta stop talking, P...Pretty...Boy."

"I can't turn it off," Fremont said. "We need these scans recorded."

"Fuck your scans." One paused as Three whined, letting Three pull him into the front of his body. "You can't just do this to people!"

Dr. Fremont gave him a sharp look. "I know this must bother you, but I need this data. Every day, we are learning more about what our nanites' true capabilities are."

"Why don't you give yourself some nanites and see how much you enjoy someone else using your body like this." One tried to pry himself away from Three, but he wasn't letting go.

"I..." Dr. Fremont drifted off, obviously listening to a comm. She touched her ear. "She can't be seizing. I'm on my way."

"What's happening?" One asked.

"You fought against the control earlier. I wonder how far that defiance goes." Dr. Fremont typed something into the panel and One watched his shape appear on the screen. In the next second, he felt arousal burning through his stomach.

"Release will help drop the hormones. I will be..." The rest of Dr. Fremont's words were drowned out by the way that One could suddenly hear every little sound Three made louder than anything else.

One let Three kiss him and it helped him think around everything else swirling around in his body. Three slid his hands down to squeeze One's ass before pulling him in against him. "Ah..."

"Three...stop...we have to..." But he didn't want to. Stopping was the last thing on One's mind. It was on his mind, though. He pushed at Three, trying to put some distance between them.

"Fuck, I need you..." Three groaned into One's neck. "And you need me. I can feel it. Please."

"We...we need to..."

"Need to fuck you." Three growled, turning them so that he pinned One to the wall. He thrust against One and then his movements stilled. Three looked to the left and the realization of what he must've seen cut through the haze One was in. Apparently it did the same for Three.

A patch of blood on the wall. Three went to touch the back of his head and One wrapped a hand around his wrist. "Don't."

Three pulled and One let go. The back of Three's head was crusty and he plucked dried bits of red from it. Eyes on the blood he'd left on the wall, Three probed the crusty area, but there was no wound. Didn't hurt, either. He remembered the crack and then nothing.

One wasn't looking at him and everything clicked. Three shook his head. "No."

One ran his hands over Three's sides, catching him when his legs faltered. "I'm sorry."

Three swallowed. "Are you sure?"

"That I felt your heart stop? That it didn't beat for almost ten minutes? Yeah. I'm sure."

"Were you right there with me the whole time?"

"Except for the time I tried to kill Fremont."

"Didn't work?"

One stared at him. "Anyway...I didn't even think about the nanites bringing you back."

Three backed off him, his body calm. The horror of finding out that he'd just died had kicked the hormones ass. "Then I guess you shouldn't have told me to jump."

One shook his head. "I didn't tell you to jump. I thought it, but..."

"And you also thought, 'Be okay...We're gonna get through this...I love you...'?"

"How did you...?"

"My guess is that." Three waved his hand at the screen as he passed it. He tried the door. When it didn't open, predictably, he pounded his fist on it.

"Well, that totally worked." One muttered. "Smartest thing you've done today."

Three cradled his hand. "Now we know it's locked, so you can use that big CEO brain of yours to get us the hell out of here."

One gestured to Three's hand. "Aw, you want me to kiss and make it better?"

"You know what, One? I would love it if you kissed my hand and sent us back to the _Raza_."

"If it would work, I'd let everyone on the crew fuck me to get us out of here."

"'Fuck?'" Three snorted. "I was just talking about kissing."

One exaggerated his sigh. "Okay. If that's how you want it."

Three grinned at him. "So, how do we get out of here?"

"Are you kidding? How...what makes you think I'd know?"

Three went to the huge screens. "You said you were working on a plan to get us out of here. Maybe there's something on this."

"I've never been locked in this room before. And," One went to stand beside Three, "I have no idea what I'm looking at. We need Five. All of this might help her figure out how to turn off the nanites."

"Is she okay?"

One caught his eye. "She's okay. I didn't give her the nanites. I was talking to her before we came to get you."

Three was really still for a minute. One touched him and Three jumped. "She's okay. You didn't hurt her."

"I could have. I _would_ have."

"Five knows it wasn't you. I gave her one of the control bands. She's gonna find a way to keep them from controlling us and we're gonna get out of here."

"I guess the kid would be the one person who can do it. So we're waiting?"

"We're waiting."

One went to lean against the wall, watching Three stare at the screens. He only spoke up when Three reached to touch something. "Don't."

"What? It's one way to find out what all this stuff does."

"You could screw something up. Or end up turning yourself into a babbling mass of hormones again. Or worse, me."

"Hell of a way to pass the time. I can't believe she did that to me."

One pushed off the wall. "I don't know. I guess I can believe there's an animal inside you." He wrapped his arms around Three. "And it was pretty nice watching you be the one falling apart this time. Before she did it to me."

"Just pretty nice?" Three brought his hands up to hold One's hips. "You know I felt how much you liked it."

"You were hanging all over me. And I was swimming in the same cocktail you were. Things were bound to wake up."

" _Cock-_ tail," Three snorted. "Where did she go?"

One shook his head. "I guess something happened to one of her projects."

"One, _we're_ one of her projects. What if something went wrong with the others?"

One looked at the door. "And we're stuck in here."

"Yeah."


	12. We don't do that anymore.

Five squeezed the band tight. A surprisingly large part of her wanted to just bash the thing against the wall until it gave her all of its secrets. Technology didn't work that way, but was it too much to ask for it to happen once?

The band was just so _simple_. There was a chance that it could only be used for audible commands and in that case, it made sense that these weren't under lock and key somewhere.

Five dropped back to lie on the small bed. She could feel every second until they noticed she didn't have the nanites dropping away. Time was running out and there was no way she was going to be able to figure any of this out.

They were all so screwed.

"Maybe if I had more," she muttered. "I'm sorry, One."

The band beeped. Five looked all over it until she found a tiny green shine on the underside. She pressed her thumb to it and held. There was a small flash of light and then a word formed over the band, connected to it by thin strings of light.

_Profile?_

"Derrick Moss."

The word was replaced by a screen that showed the doctor who'd come to get One. The screen flashed red around the edges and she saw hands come up, fingers curled into claws. She was seeing through One's eyes. The screen went black.

Interesting. Not really that helpful, but interesting. The band had beeped when she said, 'One,' though. On a whim, she did that. "One."

The screen came back, this time showing her Three. There was a patch of dark red on his throat just under his jaw. They stood in a room staring at a large screen that showed both of their bodies on it. The door opened and One turned to see a man that looked a lot like a security guard.

" _Mr. Boone, Mr. Moss. Please come with me."_

" _What happened?"_ One asked.

" _There has been a situation."_ The man said.

" _Situation?"_ One asked.

Five had her back to the door when it clicked. She swiped the green light and the projection vanished. The band went down her shirt before anyone could see it.

"How are you feeling? I don't think I ever introduced myself to you. I'm Dr. Fremont."

Five glared up at her. She wasn't going to give her – or any of them – any more words than she had to. They weren't friends. Five and the others were prisoners.

Dr. Fremont nodded in understanding. "Okay. Fair enough. This is not the greatest situation. If you can behave yourself, I won't have to use the nanites. We don't want to use the nanites on you if we don't have to."

"Then why infect us? Why do that to us?"

The doctor held the door open so that she could see the white hall beyond. "If CoreLactic contacted the _Raza_ and wanted to hire your team as mercenaries, no questions asked for each mission, would you have agreed?"

Five got up. "No. We don't do that anymore."

"But now you will."

"Whether we want to or not."

She nodded to the door. "Please, come with me."

"Where?"

"Please."

Five stepped into the hall and the doctor began walking in front of her. The thought crossed Five's mind how stupid that was. If Five had the chance, she could attack the doctor and she wouldn't see it coming. Five had to remind herself that the good doctor was under the impression she had full control of the situation. If she heard 'Emily Kolburn,' then she had to play along no matter what. Free and trapped at the same time.

Dr. Fremont had turned them down another hallway before she said anything else. "Have you ever performed any kind of maintenance on Portia Lin?"

"I'm not a doctor..."

"We are gaining more of an understanding of what she is. Parts of her are synthetic and could – in our theory, anyway – need to be maintained. Such as her nanites."

"I...I do machines and technology. Two – Portia is a person."

She hummed. "I was really hoping that you could help us on this."

"Help you on what?"

Dr. Fremont brought her through a large open area to a room with a large window. Five jumped when something bloody hit the glass. It moved and then Two's eyes stared at her from a mask of blood. They jumped side to side and she thumped her head on the glass.

"I take it this has never happened before." Dr. Fremont said.

"What...what's happening to her?"

"Her original nanites had been overwriting ours until they began to malfunction. The most damage seems to be occurring in her brain as her nanites fight back. I was hoping that you could offer some insight."

Five shook her head as Two kept staring at her, panicked. "I don't know. Isn't there anything you can do?"

"I didn't want to, but..." Dr. Fremont touched her ear. "Yeah, contact Dwarf Star. Minimal information and tell him he can use Transport Transit. We need help, now."

Five touched the glass. "She looks terrified. Can I go in there?"

Dr. Fremont pointed at the dark-clad body Five hadn't seen in the corner of the room. "Not all of the blood is hers."

A door close by opened and both One and Three came out followed by the guard Five had seen on the projection. The men stopped, looking first to her and then the window where Two stood bloody.

One's mouth fell open. "What...?"

"What's wrong with her?" Three finished for him.

Two banged on the glass before stepping back. She looked around the room and then her whole body began to tremble. Her eyes rolled back and she dropped to the floor.

"There's been a problem with the nanites." Dr. Fremont said. "Sandoval, take the three of them back to the others."

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to help her?" One asked.

"At this point, there's nothing we can do. She'll be up again in two minutes. It's too dangerous to enter the room."

"But you have to – " Five said.

Dr. Fremont grabbed Five, dragging her so close her face almost touched the glass and forcing her to look at the dead man again. "I am not risking any more of my people."

She let go and Five moved closer to One and Three. Sandoval took the lead this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	13. Let's save that one for Plan B.

 

They walked in silence for a minute. Then Five said, “They're calling Dwarf Star for help with Two.”

 

“Good job, One,” Three whispered.

 

One didn't say anything. Sandoval left them inside the room with the beds, the door locking behind them. Six smiled at Five and then his eyes went to the others, his face tight. “You all look pale. And you're bleeding,” he said to Three. “What happened?”

 

Three shook his head. “I'm fine. The nanites are screwing around with Two.”

 

One turned to him. “If Alexander Rook comes to help her, he'll try to take her when she's stable.”

 

“Yeah, they're not gonna let that happen.” Three said.

 

“That could be a useful chaos.” Nyx said, standing. “Maybe we can get out.”

 

“Even if we try to launch some kind of escape,” Four said, “they can just take control of us again and have us walk right back into this room.”

 

One looked at Five. “Have you figured out anything?”

 

“Um...A little. I'm closer than I was before, anyway.” Five turned away from them and reached into her shirt, digging the band out. “I did find something interesting. One.”

 

Nothing happened. No beep or light or anything.

 

“Are you trying to control me?” One asked.

 

It hit her and she huffed out a heavy breath. When she'd said 'One' before, it must have sounded enough like 'On' to activate it. Five couldn't believe she didn't think of it before. “On.”

 

This time, the band beeped and Five pressed her thumb into the green light. The projection appeared again with it's prompt, ' _Profile_?' “One.”

 

The word disappeared and this time it was replaced by a side-view of Five holding the band in front of him. She looked at him and the image matched. “I don't know if BioBe knows, but the nanites create different profiles for how you think of yourself. You're One, so this is what you're seeing right now. But, if I change it...Derrick Moss.”

 

The image changed to a frozen shot of when he'd been looking at Dr. Fremont, the screen behind her. “And I'm guessing this was the last time that they used your name.”

 

One stared at the screen. He remembered every second. The rage pumping through him. The grief. Yet he still couldn't break the nanites' hold and hurt her for what she'd done to Three. “Yeah. She wasn't fond of me trying to kill her.”

 

“Can you turn them off? Keep them from controlling us?” Four asked. It was the most interest he'd shown in anything since they'd woken up.

 

“I don't know, but I'm gonna try. I need to know more about them. This screen,” Five pointed at the screen behind Fremont, “what's on it?”

 

Three and One shared a glance. One answered. “Three's vitals. Readings about the nanites, mostly. If you can back it up, there should be some shots where I was looking at the screen. Before and after her tests.”

 

“She also used that computer to get the nanites to do...stuff.” Three added.

 

Five changed the screen back to One's vision and touched it. The screen registered her finger and she swiped her finger to the right. The video started going backwards, walking them out of the room, back through the halls, Two in the room, and into the room she'd seen them in before.

 

Five froze the video when she had a good shot of the screen. Both One and Three's shapes were on it. The nanites were white lines trapped by the frozen image. From what Five could see, they were traveling through the veins. For the most part. There was a patch of them in their brains – how they took control, she assumed – and a patch so large in their hearts that it was all she could see of the organ.

 

Five needed to see the scans of the others because she had no idea if there were any abnormalities or if these clusters were normal. She backed up further through Three pinning One to the wall and then One pinning him.

 

The others looked at them and Three shrugged. “They can control a lot of things.”

 

She stopped again when Three was lying still on the floor before backing all the way until they were entering the room. Both One and Three went to keep an eye on the small window in the door. They didn't need to see any of it again. Five froze the video when Dr. Fremont had pulled Three's vitals onto the big screen. She took in everything she could see on it.

 

Five caught the difference instantly. Three's heart here looked dark just like his other organs. Nanites passed through it, but they weren't gathering there like in the later image.

 

“What do you see?” Six asked.

 

Five glanced at One and Three. “Something's different.”

 

She started the stream again. Three was running on a belt. One was begging her to stop. Suddenly, he shot off the belt and hit the wall with a crack that echoed in the room. One dropped to Three's level, touching the back of his head before pressing at his throat. Five knew Three was going to die before One confirmed it.

 

“Ten minutes. Three didn't have a heartbeat for ten minutes.” One and Three stayed at the door, standing very close to each other.

 

Five skipped through until Three started moving again. It was another minute before One looked at the doctor with the screen behind her. Now Three's heart was full of the nanites.

 

“The nanites really brought you back.” Five looked at them. “Both of you. The nanites are running your hearts right now.”

 

“What does that mean?” Three asked.

 

Just a glance at One's face told Five that he either knew this or suspected it. She couldn't look at either of them as she said it. “Even if I can find a way to shut off the nanites, you might die without them running your heart.”

 

The silence began to be too much. One was the one that spoke up. “Maybe that happens. But no one is going to be able to escape this place if all they have to do is say your name.”

 

Nyx sat down beside Five, eyes on the little screen. “The control should come from the nanites in our brains. It's a heavy concentration. Do you think you could just darken those?”

 

Five moved the footage forward until there was a better view of the screen. “Maybe. I can't guarantee that the rest won't shut off, too. But I need access to their computers.”

 

One's voice from the screen drew everyone's attention. _“Aw, you want me to kiss and make it better?”_

 

“ _You know what, One? I would love it if you kissed my hand and sent us back to the_ Raza _.”_

 

“ _If it would work, I'd let everyone on the crew fuck me to get us out of here.”_

 

One's face burned hot as every person in the room stared at him. One just shut his eyes. What else could he do? Three, on the other hand, started laughing.

 

“ _'Fuck?'”_ Three snorted. _“I was just talking about kissing.”_

 

“Yeah, let's save that one for Plan B.” Five said. Three laughed harder and all One could do was turn away from all of them, pushing his forehead against the door.

 

“Tell me when you're ready to go.” Nyx said. “I have an idea how to get you out of here.”

 

“Any time. I just really need to see the actual code.” Five shut off the band and stood. She went to One and Three. “I don't want to kill you.”

 

She hugged One and then Three. Three chuckled, “You just focus on getting us the hell out of here no matter how fun Plan B sounds.”

 

It was Five's turn to blush.

 

“Sure you're ready?” Nyx asked her. When Five nodded, Nyx grabbed her head. “Agh!”

 

 


	14. I'm getting you out of here.

 

In an instant, Four was beside her on the cot. “What is it?”

 

“My head,” she moaned. “Get some help...”

 

One and Three started banging on the door, yelling. Nyx bowed down over her legs, cradling her head. Four wrapped an arm around her shoulders, whispering something too soft in her ear for anyone else to hear. It only took a minute for someone to open the door. He was wearing the same kind of security gear as Sandoval. The patch on his chest read, 'Perry.'

 

Nyx got up and stumbled toward them, Four catching her. “My head. Something's wrong with my head...please...”

 

“All right, come on.” Perry said.

 

Nyx stopped at the door, reaching out for Five. “Wait...I'm scared. Can she come, too?”

 

He shook his head. “Better if I just take you.”

 

“Please, ah...I don't understand what's...” Nyx swayed on her feet and Five jumped in, putting an arm around her waist.

 

He looked at both of them. “Fine. Come on. Rest of you, best behavior.”

 

They walked behind the man into the large research room. A little ways in, Dr. Fremont stopped them. “What's this?”

 

“She's having headaches. Wouldn't come with me without the little one, though. So here they are.” Perry explained.

 

“Headaches?” Dr. Fremont moved in front of Nyx. “Light sensitivity, sounds?”

 

Nyx nodded. “Burning...please help me.”

 

The doctor nodded. “Alright. I have her. Please take Miss Kolburn back to the others.”

 

Nyx squeezed Five tighter. “No! Please. I don't understand what's happening...”

 

“Look, I don't have the time for this right now. Not when – ”

 

“Excuse me, what is it going to take for me to find someone that is in charge of this disorganized hive?”

 

Dr. Fremont turned and visibly tensed when she saw the man coming toward them. “Mr. Rook, it's an honor. I'm Dr. Fremont, we didn't expect – ”

 

“I was told this is an emergency. Where is she?”

 

“Yes.” The doctor turned back to them. “Daniel, please take them to infirmary room four. I'll be sending someone soon to look at Ms. Harper.”

 

They followed him and Five couldn't help glancing back at Alexander Rook. The others had met him, but she hadn't been able to see him before. He was the one that...built...Two. She heard a scream before they were in a different hall.

 

The room he took them to looked similar to where One and Three had been except that there was a raised bed in the middle. One whole wall was a screen, though. Nyx let go of her and grabbed the guard. Five watched the scrabble for a second before messing with the screen. The controls followed a similar protocol as the bands and as the fight ended – the man on the floor – she had Nyx's vitals spreading over it.

 

“Are you sure you can do this?” Nyx asked.

 

Five didn't look away from the screen. “If you have a better plan, I would love to hear it.”

 

#

 

Alexander Rook hurt just seeing the way Rebecca was tearing herself apart in the room. All of her systems were malfunctioning. That all of her potential had come down to this was simply heartbreaking. Even worse, being forced to use Transit made it so that he couldn't bring anything along to neutralize her nanites and give her some relief from this.

 

“Can you drop the temperature inside the room?”

 

Dr. Fremont nodded, pulling out a tablet. Her fingers flew over it and the effects were almost instant. Rebecca's tics started slowing, her face going slack. Her breath fogged the glass in front of her, but her eyes did go to Rook's. Rebecca's mouth opened, but she didn't say anything. It was an improvement from the screaming, though.

 

Rebecca slid down the glass to kneel on the floor. Only then did he turn to Dr. Fremont. “Now, you're going to tell me exactly what you did to her.”

 

“We are currently developing a new kind of nanite. We were not aware of what she is or we never would have injected her with them.”

 

“Why did you inject her? I can't see something like that coming up in the course of any normal interaction.”

 

“That's classified. We just need you to save her life.”

 

“I will do that.”

 

The new chill in the room bit through Rook's skin to his bones. Rebecca was crouched down below the glass. Her head shook as she turned to look at him. “What...?”

 

“I'm getting you out of here. You needed an upgrade to maintain that lavish lifestyle, anyway.” Rook pulled her to her feet, draping one of her arms over his shoulders.

 

“You...wanted...to kill...me...” She shivered, but tightened her arm the best she could to hang on to him.

 

Rook didn't have an answer for that. She was going to have to be terminated at some point, but not now. Not like this.

 

In the hall, Dr. Fremont stopped them. “What do you think you're doing?”

 

“In order to fix her, I'm going to need my own lab.”

 

“You can't just...take her. There are things inside her that are the property of BioBe Research.”

 

“And the rest of her belongs to Dwarf Star Technologies. Besides, I don't believe BioBe Research is going to be around very much longer.”

 

Dr. Fremont's mouth worked. “I'm sorry. I don't quite understand what you mean by that. She stays.”

 

“I assume you're aware that the crew of the _Raza_ are fugitives wanted by the Galactic Authority. If they are somewhere on this station – and I would bet everything I have that they are – then it would be very bad if the GA were to have received a tip about that very topic before I came through your cloning pod. Now, if you'll excuse me, I – ”

 

The lights went out, pitching the whole building into darkness. A man's voice echoed throughout the station's intercoms.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! And though the story was supposed to end on Wednesday, final last-minute edits added a couple chapters and now it definitely ends on Friday.
> 
> *edit: Okay...Monday the 27th. Definitely ending on Monday the 27th.*


	15. That doesn't sound good.

 

“ _This station is now on lockdown under the power of the Galactic Authority. Power has been disrupted. All communications have been shut down.”_

 

“That doesn't sound good.” Three's voice came out of the dark on One's left.

 

“I know that voice. He was on that rock where we found Corso. Some inspector with the GA.” Four said, deeper in the room.

 

“Yay.” Three said. “And who do you think called him?”

 

“Does it matter?” One said. Red emergency lights flared to life in the hall. One tried the door and it opened. “Anyone want to vote against finding the others and getting the hell out of here?”

 

#

 

When the emergency lights came on, Dr. Fremont was standing alone.

 

#

 

“No!” Five pressed all over the panel in the dark, but there was nothing.

 

She jumped when someone touched her side. Nyx said, “With the band, do you think you can do this on the _Raza_?”

 

“Maybe I can figure out something...”

 

“Good. Because we need to go while we can.”

 

Five slipped the band on her wrist and they stepped out. The red light was barely a step up from the darkness when it came to seeing anything, but at least they could see. Five kept close to Nyx, hoping she'd paid more attention to the way they'd come.

 

Footsteps came running from behind them. Nyx spun around, the guard's gun already up. Five moved behind her and kept an eye on the way they were going. Her empty hands itched. She wished she had a gun or anything else to make her feel like she could help with defending them.

 

“Drop the – ” It was a man's voice. Five got that much before the gunshot close behind her and there was no way she was going to look at the body if she didn't have to. There were no other sounds in this hall and Five just started forward.

 

Nyx came up beside her. “Do you remember how to get back to that open area?”

 

Five shook her head. “Not really. This place is unbelievable.”

 

Nyx stopped, staring at the wall on their left. She reached out and ran a hand over it. At first, Five's eyes couldn't make it out and then there it was. The word _Infirmary_ was just barely visible etched into the wall. Unless someone knew where to look, they would never have seen it. That gave a definite advantage to the people working here while the prisoners – experiments? – didn't know where they were or where to go if they got free.

 

Nyx traced her fingers to the right and said, “We are definitely going the right way, at least. That is, if 'Observation' is what they call the open area.”

 

They heard the chaos ahead before they reached the end of the hall. Scientists running around, speaking in panicked whispers. When they were close, Nyx pushed her against the wall. She had the gun up and ready to fire by the time the the man ducked into the hall.

 

He got his hands up before she could fire and they were empty. “A gun's not playing fair, Nyx.”

 

They both relaxed. Five said, “Where are the others? We heard the message about the GA.”

 

Four shut his eyes and then said, “They're going to come to us when they can.”

 

“I heard that in my head.” Nyx said softly. “You told them where we are.”

 

Four nodded. “One told us about it. Works better when you're close, but...it works.”

 

“Yeah, because I need more people in my head.” Nyx said.

 

“Wow,” Five said. “I wonder if they planned on that.”

 

“Doubtful. Doesn't seem likely they would want their slaves able to communicate like this. Gives them the chance to be more dangerous.” Four inched to the end of the hall and looked out.

 

#

 

One was trying to find a way to help Three with a guy when pain hit him hard in the back. The bullet came out to the right of his belly button and suddenly he wasn't here anymore.

 

_His own face was there when he opened the door. One should've known it was coming. He opened his mouth, but there wasn't anything he could say or do that would stop Corso._

 

_Pop-pop-pop-pop._

 

_Pop._

 

There was another gunshot and One was staring at Three. Three had a gun pointed behind him and without looking, One knew whoever shot him was dead. Three's eyes shifted to his and then down. One followed his eyes to the hole in his shirt and the trail of blood seeping from it.

 

“It doesn't even hurt that bad.” One said.

 

Three grabbed his shirt, half ripping it upward. The wound was bigger than he expected. Gaping and red, but the bleeding had already stopped. The torn edges of his skin moved and the pain was already fading fast. Before One had a chance to process any of that, Three was kissing him. He had one hand locked around the back of One's neck, keeping him from pulling away. Not that he wanted to.

 

“I heard the shot and...”

 

One smiled. “Not like I can die again, right?”

 

“Get his gun. We still got work to do.”

 

When the group split up, they took different halls. So far, theirs had only led them in a large circle until they heard Four's voice. _'There are signs etched into the walls. Almost invisible. Head to Observation.'_

 

“Son of a bitch,” Three muttered.

 

One put one hand on the wall as they walked. At a corner that split into three directions, he stopped. “I feel it.” He had to check two of the halls before he nodded. “This way.”

 

They ran into a quiet chaos. Most of the room was dark, the emergency lights doing little in the large area. Three nodded to the left. “We hug the wall and avoid most of whatever is happening there.”

 

The room with the blood and the body was empty. Three pounded his fist on the glass. “The man definitely works fast, I'll give him that.”

 

“Maybe they moved her somewhere else.” One said.

 

_'Hey, we've got a problem.'_ Six said. ' _I've checked every airlock. The_ Raza _was attached to the station, but it's gone now.'_

 

_'You can't find our_ ship _?'_ Three shot back.

 

_'I don't know how big this station is, but they have a large number of transport ships docked inside a large bay. All kinds. Should be able to find one to get us out of here.'_

 

Six gave them the directions the best he could and they kept to the shadows.

 

 


	16. No time for sightseeing.

 

Six weaved his way through the ships. All they needed was something small that would sit seven and get them the hell out of here before the full GA arrived. He rounded a Mallozzi Shuttle and stumbled.

 

The _Marauder._ Just sitting right there. Six opened it and something didn't feel right. It looked like the same _Marauder._ Smelled like the same cleaner he'd used on it last. There were bags sitting in the cargo area that he'd never seen before. The first had clothes. Another had food. Another money. Stuffed full of money.

 

He had just enough time to think about what that might mean before the gunfire started.

 

#

 

The scientists of BioBe were too wrapped up in their own panic to even pay them any attention. There was no way to tell how many other illegal things they were doing here. One couldn't wait to get out of this place and away from these people.

 

Until he caught a glimpse of a room down a hall they had been in for a couple minutes. One stepped inside without another thought.

 

Three noticed and backtracked. “No time for sightseeing.”

 

One didn't say anything. He just raised his gun and fired off three shots into the large computer. Something sparked and smoke poured out.

 

“You know, they probably have all their shit backed up somewhere else.”

 

“I know.” One kept the gun up, squeezing it, but not pulling the trigger. His muscles were so tense that his hand shook.

 

Three wrapped his hand around One's and pulled the gun free. He pressed his lips to the side of One's face. “Come on. We've gotta go home. Six better be warming up a ship right now.”

 

One nodded. He grabbed the gun back. “I'm okay.”

 

“I know.”

 

They followed the curve of the hall, breaking into a run at the sound of gunfire ahead. The second they hit a large open area full of ships, Three shoved him. One crawled behind something metal. Three was sitting behind something a ways from him. He had a hand clamped on his shoulder and One could see blood. They weren't free, yet.

 

One took a deep breath and grit his teeth against the pain in his stomach where he was still healing. He popped up, firing at the armored security.

 

#

 

Since she wasn't armed, Five slipped away while the others handled the guards. Shots from the firefight bounced back off every metal surface and there wasn't any way for her to know if someone was coming after her. But she had to find Six and help how ever she could.

 

Five almost ran straight into him. He grabbed her when she stumbled back. “Hey, what's going on back there?”

 

“Guards met us at the door. I slipped away and saw One and Three come in. I think Three got hit, but...” Five saw the ship behind him. “Is that the _Marauder_? Why would it be here?”

 

Six glanced back at it. “That's the thing. I don't think it is our _Marauder_. There's stuff in it that doesn't belong to us.”

 

“How can that be?” Five squinted at the transport. Then she got it. “Whoever was in that hitchhiked into our universe.”

 

“And they're somewhere on this station.” Six shook his head and froze. “Do you hear that?”

 

Five listened. “I can't hear anything.”

 

Six nodded. “Get in the _Marauder_.”

 

“Like hell.” Five followed him. They made it a few steps before Six froze. His muscles went stiff in the now familiar way. Five did the same, hearing footsteps.

 

Dr. Fremont led the others. One, Three, Four, and Nyx. All with the same blank faces. It took everything Five had to keep still and keep pretending to be like the others.

 

Dr. Fremont looked at both of them, nodding when she was satisfied with what she saw. “All right, everyone. You've had a nice field trip, but we need to leave the station now. Follow me.”

 

Dr. Fremont turned and Five and Six fell in with the others. Five moved in close to Three. She wrapped her left hand around the gun in his right.

 

He wouldn't let go.

 

Five tugged on the gun and when he still wouldn't let go, she left her hand wrapped loosely around his. Dr. Fremont took them into a small transport vessel. It wasn't marked in any way that Five could see.

 

“Yes.” Dr. Fremont said into her comm, facing the front of the ship. There were two pilots there ready to go. “I'm in place. Open the outer doors.”

 

“Dr. Fremont.”

 

The doctor spun around and Five raised Three's gun, still in his hand. At the same time, she brought her other wrist up with the black band. “Marcus, Fire.”

 

The bullet took her in the shoulder. Dr. Fremont dropped to the floor. Into the band, Five said, “That's all.”

 

The others relaxed and then trained their guns on the pilots. One and Six hauled them to their feet. Three kept his gun on the doctor.

 

“Move an inch and I will kill you this time.” Three said.

 

Dr. Fremont squeezed her shoulder. “GA ships are on their way. You can't escape without me. Not finding your ship and leaving.”

 

“We'll take our chances.” Five said.

 

They shoved the pilots out of the ship first. Three shoved Dr. Fremont and she rolled on the floor outside. He turned to find One's gun pointing at her. He waited. They all did. One dropped the gun to his side.

 

“You deserve to be locked away on some dark rock.” One turned and they shut the doors.

 

“No. No!” Three ran to the front of the ship where Six had already taken the seat at the main controls. “Up. Get up. Now.”

 

Six didn't even look at him. “We don't have time for you to learn the ship.”

 

“I'm not letting you fly us straight to the GA.”

 

One grabbed Three's shoulders, shoving him into the copilot's seat. “Shut up. Can you get us out of here?”

 

Six did look at One. “I think so.”

 

“He thinks so,” Three grumbled and One squeezed his shoulders painfully tight.

 

“Then do it.”

 

The ship picked up once they were strapped in and sped down a channel that led to the doors. “She had the outer doors opened...Three, I need you to open the inner ones.”

 

Three searched the controls in front of him and hit the one marked for it. The doors opened and there was just space beyond. The speed upped and they shot out of the station. The _Raza_ sat stationary only a short distance away from the station.

 

“She must've planned on escaping using the _Raza._ ” Three said.

 

“Good for us.” Six said. He brought the ship up and the _Raza_ opened up for them.

 

It was a tight fit with their _Marauder_ still inside. They were met outside the transport by the Android and a gun. “You must return to the station for Dr. Fremont.”

 

“Oh, come on. Now she has a gun? It's not like she needs it to kick our asses.” Three said.

 

The Android never wavered. “You must return to the station for Dr. Fremont.”

 

Five spoke into the band. “Lower your weapon.”

 

For a beat, it looked like nothing was going to happen and then she dropped her arms.

 

“Go fire up the ship.” Five said. The Android left and they shut the ramp. After she did, Five shut the Android down completely so BioBe couldn't use her against them. A large ship dropped out of FTL in front of them.

 

“You can't say that they don't move fast.” Nyx said.

 

“They probably had a ship in the area.” Six added.

 

Five had slid into Two's usual seat, eyes running over all the controls there. One leaned down to her, eyes on the ship outside. “Do you think you can run the Blink Drive without the Android?”

 

“Maybe.” She ran through everything she'd seen Two do. The Galactic Authority logo appeared on the large screens.

 

“Raza, _power down and prepare to be boarded.”_

 

“Hold on tight.” Five shut her eyes as the energy from the Blink Drive slid over her skin. In just a couple seconds, it was over. She didn't open them even when there was a whoop of victory from Three. Someone grabbed her shoulders, shaking them.

 

“Good job, Kid!”

 

“We're alive?” She said, blinking at the expanse of space stretching out in front of them.

 

“Alive and safe.” Six said.

 

“Except Two.” Five said.

 

“We'll find her.” One said. It was his hands on her shoulders. “You did good.”

 

“I didn't get a chance to turn off the nanites.”

 

“Yeah, but if anyone can,” Three said, “we know it's you.”

 

After the others left, Five created a folder and uploaded all of the information the band held, which was a surprising amount. Visual videos from both personalities except Nyx, who only had herself. One's went all the way back to his original waking in the BioBe labs after his death. The panic. The ordered massacre on the ship they'd found him on.

 

It was a lot to go through.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	17. Is that as big a turn on to you as it is to me?

 

Alone, One pulled Three's shirt off. He slid his hand through the blood on his shoulder and found only smooth skin. Three did the same to One.

 

“If they're gonna heal me anyway, you'd think they could make it hurt less.” Three said.

 

“Really? Getting shot _once_ hurt?” One kept his hand on Three's shoulder, rubbing his thumb over the skin.

 

Three laughed even though it was the farthest thing from funny. The sound of it dragged One along and he was suddenly laughing, too. One slid his arms around Three, squeezing him in a tight hug.

 

They stood like that for a minute, the laughter dying out. It was replaced by a comfortable silence broken only by the usual hum of the ship. Or the machines shooting around their bodies. Three was relatively sure that he couldn't hear them, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to find some outward sign that he wasn't one hundred percent human anymore.

 

“You know,” Three said, “I'm pretty sure I died earlier. Unless I was dreaming and that didn't happen.”

 

One combed his fingers through the back of Three's hair and watched the rusty flakes fall like snow. “You've got dried blood in your hair.”

 

“Is that as big a turn on to you as it is to me?”

 

“Shower, now.”

 

Three stood with his face under the water while One scrubbed his hair. When his fingers kept moving over the same place on his scalp, Three pushed his head forward so that his mouth wasn't getting pummeled by the water. “You're not going to find anything.”

 

Three's moving sent the water rushing through his hair and One grabbed a handful, jerking him back so he could make sure he'd gotten all the blood. “I wasn't looking.”

 

“Bull-agh!” One had jerked him back under the water again before he could finish.

 

Three shoved him back so he could turn around, coughing. “Trying to drown me, now?”

 

“I don't know, will it shut you up?”

 

“By this point, I'd think you'd have a pretty good idea of what shuts me up.” Three ended with a smirk and One shoved him.

 

Three slipped and hit the wall hard. He slid down to sit on the floor with a groan. One had to cover his mouth. He didn't know what was so funny about it, but it was. Three glared up at him. “I knew this place was dangerous.”

 

One tried to speak and couldn't. He opened the door, stepped out of the shower, and closed the door again. Through it, Three heard him laughing. “What if I died just now?”

 

“But you can't,” One got out. He was hanging on the sink when Three slid the door open from where he sat. Three tried to get up and slipped again.

 

One grabbed a towel. “I gotta go...I can't...”

 

Three rolled his head back against the wall. He didn't get as far as laughing, but there was a definite smile. Things were going to look up. They had to. After they got Two free of Rook again.

 

And then there was the fact that they really couldn't die as long as the nanites were active. He wouldn't ever have to deal with losing One again because they were on the same page now. If the nanites ever stopped doing their job, then they would both be gone.

 

“Are you planning to just stay in here forever? At some point, Five's going to have to see you and if you're naked again, I think she just might break.” One peeked his head around the side of the stall. He turned the water off.

 

Three raised his hands. “I did just get comfortable.”

 

One raised one eyebrow. “Comfortable enough to stay there another...ten, fifteen minutes?”

 

Three opened his mouth to ask why and One stepped out where he could see every inch of him. He stepped into the shower to stand in front of Three. Three's eyes lingered where One was hard. The most intelligent thing he could come up with was, “Huh.”

 

“Three? Yes or no, because we can find a way to get you out of the shower and take this to your bed.”

 

Three forced his eyes to where One was dangling a bottle of lube in front of him. He tried to grab it and One jerked it out of reach. The bottle bobbed in the air. “Yes. Or. No.”

 

Three rocked forward and hooked his hands around One's thighs. He pulled him forward until he was standing over him, legs spread. One shut off the shower and he was suddenly inside Three's mouth.

Three slid his hands over One's ass. He pushed his fingers down to rub over and then inside him.

 

One dropped his head forward with a groan, hands braced on the wall. “You're dry.”

 

“You're not.” Three said, shocked. “Did you just...? You were only gone for a couple minutes!”

 

One grinned at him. “Yeah, but it was a really good couple of minutes.”

 

Three grinned back. One arched his back with a gasp when Three pushed his fingers all the way inside him. He moaned. “Feels better when you do it.”

 

Three played with his fingers inside One while working his cock with his mouth. He only pulled off when One popped the cap on the lube Three had forgotten about. “Not here.”

 

One groaned. “Just for a minute? Then we can go.”

 

“Don't think I can say no to that.”

 

One sank to his knees. He stroked Three's cock before drizzling the lube over Three, who jumped at the chill when it hit him. One dropped the bottle in the shower again and rose up to move Three's cock into place under him. “Ready?”

 

Three jerked his hips up and his head popped in. “I think so.”

 

One sank down the rest of the way on him. He wrapped his arms around Three's shoulders, locking their lips together. His cock was sandwiched between their stomachs and when he tried to thrust against him, it moved Three's cock inside him. They both moaned into the kiss and then chuckled.

 

One dropped his head to kiss Three's shoulder as he began to move. It started out as mostly grinding until he could pull up high enough to bounce on him. Three's hands slid to grip and massage One's ass. He used the hold to guide him while making little grunts in One's ear.

 

One was really getting into it when he heard and didn't quite hear, _'Ah, shit...this floor is so hard...damn nanites...go to my back...'_

 

One stopped moving and just sat in Three's lap. Three's hands made him shiver as they ran over his back. “What?”

 

One pulled back to look at him. “You okay?”

 

Three snorted, giving One's ass a quick smack. “Hey, you're the one that stopped, Pretty Boy.”

 

“Let's get out of here. My knees hurt.” As One eased off of him, he noticed Three trying to hide his relief at getting off the shower floor faster.

 

On his feet, One pushed Three into the wall. He pressed his body into Three's, attaching their lips. Trying it out again, One thought. _'Want you to fuck me so hard, I have a limp for a week.'_

 

Three's cock twitched between them. _'Maybe we can get Five to turn you into a babbling mess again.'_

 

One pulled back. Out loud, he said, “You think she could?”

 

“Probably.” Three shrugged.

 

_'Do the two of you think that you could keep this between yourselves?'_ Four said in their minds.

 

_'Yeah, guys...not what I wanna be listening to.'_ Six said.

 

One's face went bright red even as Three's grin grew. One backed off and headed into the bedroom without a word. Three shut his eyes. _'Thank you, gentlemen.'_

 

One stood in the middle of Three's room, his shoulders moving with every breath. Three laughed. He couldn't help it. “Come on. It was just Four. And Six. And Nyx. I'm sure she liked it. She always struck me as a dirty freak.”

 

One didn't even twitch when Three's arms came around him. “They're all grownups, I think they can handle ignoring whatever might get broadcast.”

 

One moaned when Three kissed his neck. “That does feel really nice. And that.”

 

Three had slid one hand down to slowly jerk One off. One's hips pushed into his hand when he squeezed him, meeting him stroke for stroke. “Hey, you wanna send some of that fun my way?”

 

One threw his head back, searching for Three's mouth and finding it. “Do what you want.”

 

“Huh?” Three ground himself against One's ass. “What was that?”

 

“No one's stopping you.” One pushed his ass back into Three. “No one's gonna stop you.”

 

“Really? Anything?” Three let go of One and shoved him forward. One caught himself with his hands on the bed. He laughed a little, glancing at Three.

 

“Okay, then.” One went to climb on the bed and Three stopped him with a tight grip on his hips. One quirked an eyebrow, but kept his feet on the floor.

 

Three ran his hands over One's ass before shoving his hips against him, sliding his cock over him. One moaned and then Three was pushing inside him. He paused for only a second before pulling back again. The next thrust was hard, shoving straight into One's core in one go.

 

One bit down hard on his bottom lip. He dug his hands into Three's sheets, taking handfuls to squeeze as Three did it again. It was on the fourth or fifth power-thrust that One lost the battle to keep quiet. “Ah! Fucking...hell...Three...”

 

“Feel good?” The next had a little less power behind it.

 

One squeezed around him, pushing his face into the mattress under him. When he didn't say anything, Three pulled back until there was hardly anything left inside One. Nothing else happened and One groaned. “I hate you so much...”

 

“But you love...my...” Three supplied.

 

One sighed. In a flat voice, he said, “Cock. I love your cock. Give me your cock.”

 

“Not hearing the word I wanna hear.”

 

One moved quickly to climb onto the bed. Three tried to catch him, but he got free, moving out of his direct reach. One rolled onto his back. He reached down to stroke himself while running his eyes up to Three's face. His voice came low. “Please.”

 

Three's face cracked into a grin and he climbed on the bed. “You said anything _I_ wanted.”

 

One grabbed him when he was close enough, wrapping both arms and legs around him. “You took too long.”

 

They kissed and Three grabbed One's legs. He jerked them up and folded him in half. “Really?”

 

Three nodded. “Really.”

 

One rolled his eyes and hooked his arms around his own legs. “Fine. Do your – ”

 

One couldn't finish the last word because all of the air shot out of his lungs. Three was deep. This time, he didn't waste any time in moving. Every thrust rocked both of them. “Fuck, Three...”

 

“Yeah.” Three pushed between his legs to kiss him and One whined into it.

 

One threw his head back. “Touch me...”

 

Three sat up and wrapped his hand around One. One squirmed under him, moving his hips to meet Three's the best he could. “Baby, I'm gonna come...”

 

Three slowed to almost nothing, stroking him fast. One reached to touch whatever he could of Three. When he came, he was sure that Three had, too, until Three started moving again. Three took off pounding into him fast and it was too much.

 

“Fuck, Three, would you just...come...”

 

Three pulled out of him, stroking his cock fast to shoot on One's stomach. Before he was done, One grabbed him, pulling him down into a kiss. His legs slid down and he wrapped them around Three, pulling him as close as he could.

 

When Three did pull back, his stomach was wet where their cum had smeared onto him. “Ugh. I want to shower, but I also want to sleep.”

 

One yawned. “Come up here. I'll do you, you do me.”

 

Three grinned. He climbed up One until he could lean down over him. One flicked his tongue out and Three shivered. One laughed and licked up everything he could see. “Done.”

 

“That was fast.”

 

“Tired. And there's more on me than you.”

 

Three sighed. “Son of a bitch.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little porn for your weekend? Stay tuned for the wrap-up ending on Monday and Thanks for Reading!


	18. I love you, Asshole.

 

Five couldn't seem to control her fingers, much less anything else. They kept tapping a nervous rhythm on the side of the panel and there was nothing she could do to stop them. The clicking was equal parts relaxing and annoying. As time wore on and she wasn't getting any further on deactivating the nanites' ability to control, Five's mind kept turning to which the clicking made her more, relaxed or annoyed.

 

“Hey, are you okay?”

 

Five almost screamed, grabbing the panel before she could fall out of the chair. One grabbed her at the same time. Five took several deep breaths. “I'm fine.”

 

“Yeah...I believe that. That is totally believable. That's why you're so pale and your eyes are so dark and you're so jumpy, you almost just hit the floor. Fine.”

 

Five sighed. “I think I almost have it where I can shut them down without killing you. So close, One, and then we don't have to worry about the nanites anymore or what BioBe's going to do when they find us or – ”

 

“Five,” he cut in, “have you slept any since we escaped?”

 

“I don't need sleep. I need to fix this so we can – ”

 

One pulled her out of the chair. “We're watching each other, okay? The world won't end if you get some rest.”

 

“But I need to...if I screw this up, you will die. Three will die. Everyone else _could_ die.” She said, her voice getting more airy as they walked.

 

One got her arm over his shoulder, letting her hang on him. “And you think being this tired will help you not mess up?”

 

They ran into Three when they were almost to her room. He pointed at Five. “Oh, God, you're cheating on me...I knew it! It's the hair, isn't it? Gotta get a little wild?”

 

“Almost done...” Five murmured. She turned her head and pressed her face into One's side.

 

“Someone decided that working on the nanites was more important than sleep.”

 

“Aw, Kid.” Three opened her door and followed them inside. “That's pretty dumb.”

 

One helped her into the bed. “I'm going to check on you later. If you're not asleep, then I'm going to sit right here and watch you until you do.”

 

“Yeah, because you being creepy is really gonna help me get to sleep.” That made Three snort.

 

“Or I could just inject you with the nanites and order you to sleep.” He held his hands up when she glared at him. “Three, tell her to get some sleep.”

 

“Get some sleep. Don't make me whip out Plan B.”

 

“Oh, my God...” One turned away from them. Five blushed, snuggling down in her blankets until they couldn't see her.

 

“I've seen all of your videos,” she said from her hidden place. “From when you woke up after dying. Didn't waste any time when you got back to the _Raza_.”

 

One shot out into the hall to the sound of Three's laughter. On his way out, Three said, “Good one, Kid. Sleep. Now.”

 

“God, I didn't even think about that!” One hissed at him when they were alone. “Worse. That is so much worse than what she saw in the hall!”

 

“Come on, she didn't look too traumatized.” Three pulled One close. “Her new overworked attitude is something to worry about, though. Hopefully she can figure out the nanites without killing herself.”

 

“I think she's more worried about killing us.”

 

“Yeah...” Three slid one hand behind One's neck, pulling him into a kiss. “She'll figure it out.”

 

“If she doesn't?” One whispered against his lips.

 

Three grinned, kissing him again. “Then I guess it's game over for us. I'm not being controlled like that again. Ever. I don't care what happens.”

 

“Hey, guys...uh...” Six walked up to them. “I just caught a news signal you should see.”

 

Six blew it up on the large screen on the Bridge. One kept glancing at the Android standing perfectly still in the corner, eyes open, but otherwise gone. Then the news caught his attention.

 

“ _...raid on the BioBe labs that resulted in many arrests. Galactic Authority officials found evidence of human experimentation among other hefty violations. According to current reports, the fugitives were not located and are presumed to still be at large._

 

“ _BioBe was recently acquired by CoreLactic Industries and these charges will leave a stain...”_

 

“I don't think we're going to have to worry too much about BioBe coming after us.” Six said.

 

“Good.” One said. “I hope CoreLactic suffers.”

 

As if summoned, the newscast changed to show the headquarters of CoreLactic. The band across the bottom read, 'Miraculous Resurrection for CoreLactic CEO.' It showed several people getting out of a shuttle on a landing pad at the top of the building. The one they focused on was definitely a Derrick Moss. There was another man in the back of the group with a hood up over his head, but they recognized him, too.

 

“How...?” One said.

 

“Unless they were working on clones at BioBe – ” Three started.

 

“The _Marauder_. I forgot all about it.” Six said. “In the transport bay, we found a _Marauder_ just like ours _._ They must have captured them before us.”

 

One sighed. “Why can't I be the only me in a universe?”

 

Three slid a hand along his back, easing him against his side. One had noticed more of these little touches since they'd gotten back on the _Raza_. One relaxed into him, trying to ignore the others around them and the dread he felt at seeing their doubles on the screen.

 

#

 

It was another day before Five called them all onto the Bridge. There was a body on the large screen with nanites shooting through her system.

 

“Hello.” The Android said when they'd all gathered. “I appear to have a rather large gap in my memory.”

 

Three's face split into a large grin. “Never thought I'd be this happy to see you acting like your old self.”

 

“You seem more like your old self, too, Three.” She said and they laughed.

 

“So, does this mean you've cracked it?” Six asked.

 

“Yes. On the screen, her original nanites are white while the new ones are green.” Five said.

 

One stepped closer to the screen. “So they're still working?”

 

Five nodded. “In tandem with her original nanites instead of controlling them like before. Getting them isolated, I can shut them down and leave the others running if I want to. I've taken away their control, though.”

 

“Meaning?” Four asked.

 

Five raised the band to her mouth. “Android, do jumping jacks.”

 

“Why would you want me to do that?” The Android said, her head tilting a little to the right.

 

“But even if they can't control us, the nanites will still keep running in us? Keeping us...alive?” One said.

 

Five nodded. “The benefits outweigh the risks as long as the controls are disabled. For all of you.” She looked at Four and Six and Nyx. “Faster healing, adapting to any physical situation – ”

 

“Coming back from the dead...” One added.

 

Four said, “A useful asset.”

 

“If anyone wants me to shut down their nanites completely, I can do that, too. But I think it's a better idea to keep them. And we can shut them down later if we need to.”

 

Three shared a look with One. He nodded and One nodded back. “Do us first. If it works on us, then you know everyone else will be fine.”

 

Three pulled One close, doing his best to ignore everyone in the room. “Just in case we do die...”

 

“I know, Fuzzy.” One nodded, tugging on Three's chin.

 

Three rolled his eyes and mouthed the words, _“I love you, Pretty Boy.”_

 

One smiled, mouthing back. _“I love you, Asshole.”_

 

“Let's do this, Kid.” Three said. “There is a good chance that I'll come back and haunt you.”

 

She typed something and the screen split five ways into different sets of vitals complete with a tracing of their bodies. This way, it was easy to see the different between One, Three, and the others. The way their hearts were full so full of the nanites, they weren't even visible.

 

The first two shapes, One and Three, lit up. The nanites went from white to green and then One felt it. The pain came on fast, blasting guns inside One's skull. It blinded him to everything and then there was nothing.

 

 


	19. Epilogue

 

The _Raza_ was floating just outside the sensors around Terra Prime so that they were basically invisible. One and Three stood on the Bridge watching the planet. Four was training with Nyx. Six was currently working on the _Marauder._ The plan was all but set.

 

The main office of Dwarf Star Technologies was somewhere on the surface. Before their signal went dark, Five used the nanites to track her here. As long as Rook hadn't moved her again, Two would be somewhere in that building and they were going to get her back.

 

Five had managed to naturally step into Two's place. Every five minutes, she insisted she was only keeping the seat warm for Two, but they could tell she was getting more comfortable with it. Three kept talking about how terrifying it was going to be having two captains when Two was back.

 

“She's down there and it's all my fault.” One said, softly.

 

“Yeah, it is.”

 

One turned to look at him and Three shrugged. “Don't worry! We're gonna fix it and Two will be home before you can drive me into shooting myself out of the airlock.”

 

This wasn't going to be easy, but easy wasn't exactly what the _Raza_ did.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this story. I originally planned on the whole 'tragic death' thing, but...I miss One! Loved the second season, but still...damn whoever hired Corso! 
> 
> Anyway, on Wednesday I've got another Three/One sexathon fic to post and that will probably be my last with this pairing just because it's time to move on. My muse might have other ideas, though, so we'll see. :)
> 
> Happy Travels!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy. :)
> 
> If you haven't already, I urge you to sign. Over 20,000 so far!
> 
> https://www.change.org/p/syfy-renew-dark-matter-for-season-4


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